


Action Replay

by Becky_Blue_Eyes



Series: Life in 16 Flavors Universe [3]
Category: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-01
Updated: 2014-06-17
Packaged: 2017-12-04 00:43:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 103,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/704503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Becky_Blue_Eyes/pseuds/Becky_Blue_Eyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Sugar Rush's restoration, it seems that every game in the arcade needs code altering. Luckily for everyone, the Codebusters are here to help, no matter what the hidden glitches, bugs, and programming errors may be. Takes place after Li16F and Gratitude.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again!
> 
> This story is the sequel to Life in 16 Flavors and Gratitude, so it would be best if you all were to read those first. If you have, then welcome to the next story!

As most things in Choko Pockystix's life, it started out small.

The party Queen Vanellope-hime—was she supposed to drop the -hime now? She should schedule in a meeting over that—had thrown was the biggest event in the arcade since the wedding of Pauline-san and Donkey Kong-san. Everyone from Mario-sama to the Angel Kids to TIE fighter pilots had been there, eating cake as if there was no tomorrow. Choko had enjoyed herself, the Queen and all the racers had enjoyed themselves, and all in all the party was a major success.

And with that success came little requests.

First it was Tapper-san asking if they could help reprogram the door handles to the bathrooms. Then it was Cyril-san groaning about incredibly stupid AI. Then it was Emi-san and Mischaela-san and the Paperboy and it seemed that every game in the arcade needed her code expertise. After all, she had helped restore Honey the Cat back to her game, and she had been a major player in the reprogramming of Sugar Rush. Going to Choko was obviously the smartest choice.

She didn't mind—she was glad to be of assistance! Pointing people in the direction of their Game Genies with the proper codes was easier than five minute cake compared to being Secretary to the Queen, and she had a healthy work ethic along with her moral compass.

But still, it was getting a bit overwhelming with being a secretary and a high tier boss and a racer and an ikebana hobbyist—that reminded her, she needed to schedule in a class with the High Advisor about setting up more civil activities, right after she was done meeting with Ai Ai-san about a ball physics error—and Choko was being spread thinner than watered down anko paste.

But as she adjusted the pocky sticks in her bun and set out to advise more characters, Choko felt a sense of purpose in her off-time duty.

* * *

It was official: she was lost.

She was pretty sure that Q*Bert-san had told her that Ai Ai-san was visiting DJ Hero 2 today, but maybe he meant Guitar Hero 2. The rhythm games sounded too much alike for her feeble understanding of Q*Bertese.

Choko huffed and straightened the sleeve of her kimono. It wasn't worth getting sour over, she just needed to ask for directions out of the giant rave she had stumbled into. The fact that she amounted to about 3 and a half feet in this game full of 6 foot tall ravers didn't help.

She tripped over the repetitive leg movements of a half-naked lady—and  _really_ , she was no Yamato Nadeshiko but come  _on,_  she has underwear longer than that woman's shorts!—and crawled towards the wall, the loud thrumming of electronic music mixing into her thoughts. She loved J-Pop so it wasn't much of a stretch to like EDM, but she struggled to concentrate on getting out when the bass dropped and filled her brain with wonderfully raging music fit for an intense mirror battle.

Inching towards the DJ booth, she ignored the giant track of music floating over their heads and climbed behind the giant speakers. She looked up to see a long haired DJ making the crowd go wild; Felix had pointed him out at the party, saying he was the guy to go to for any anniversary party. Clearing her throat, she shouted, "済みません (Sumimasen), but do you know where the exit is?"

He motioned for her to wait, then finished the track and let the crowd shout his name for a few moments before letting a DJ with a giant mouse head take over. Leading her to the backstage lounge, he smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, it's too loud when you're playing. Can I help you out?"

"Oh, not at all. I was supposed to meet Ai Ai-san here but I think he's in a different game, so do you know where the exit it?"

The man—teenager really, he looked to be about 20ish or so and his big glasses didn't help his boyish features—paused, then grinned. "Wait, I know you! You're the code master everyone's trying to talk to!" Choko blushed cherry red, and he continued, "Ai Ai was here earlier but had to bail to Dig Dug; I'll take you there."

He led her out a back door into the neon flashing landscape of DJ Hero, telling her to look out for any weak lights; apparently the boundary was acting up but he had marked the pockets. "I'm going to patch it up tomorrow if I have time. I know a lot about code myself—I'm a custom character, so data manipulating was literally built in my code—so I'll try and keep this game and Guitar Hero off your work list."

Choko laughed and hopped over a weakly glowing light. "That's a relief." She froze then flushed. "Oh, I've been so rude. My name's Choko Pockystix, nice to make your acquaintance."

"Well hello then, Choko. Skrillex is my stage name, but my friends just call me Sonny."

Choko liked making friends, especially the びしょうねん (bishounen) types.

* * *

Choko thumped her head against the wall, cursing the day she had neglected to tell Dig Dug how to eliminate invisible sinkholes in his game. As soon as she was out of this mess she was scheduling that in first thing tomorrow night.

Skrillex-kun had broken his glasses in the fall and was equally as miserable as she was, except that he was blind. By some sick twist of fate their heights of 3'8" and 4'7" wasn't enough to hoist Choko out of the hole, so this was shaping up to be a most wonderful time.

Footsteps echoed from up above and the two yelled out for help, Skrillex-kun adding in some very colorful language. The footsteps stopped, then a yellow furred cat with black hair pin two twin tails peered down. "Is that you Choko?"

"Honey-chan!" Choko bounced on the balls of her feet. "Can you help us out of here? We're too short and Sonny-kun has broken his glasses."

"Sure thing!" Honey-chan left for a long moment then the right side of their whole collapsed, revealing Dig Dug-san. They climbed (or in Skrillex-kun's case, hugged the wall and went at the speed of frozen molasses) out of the tunnel back up to solid ground, Honey-chan and Ai Ai-san trying not to giggle. "Lemme patch those glasses for you, mister."

Choko noticed with a small startle that Honey-chan directly fixed his glasses without using a cheat cartridge. Honey-chan paused, then shrugged, "When you spend 16 years talking code with your best friend, you learn a bit about manipulating it." She grinned brightly. "Thanks to you I can act on that."

Choko waved away the thanks—how could she not help someone in need of program fixing when she herself had spent 15 years in the void due to a virus?—before telling Dig Dug-san to go over his Game Genie and for Ai Ai-san to meet up with her at Sugar Rush tomorrow so she could see to his own game. Right now she needed to get back to Queen Vanellope-hime, and if Skrillex-kun and Honey-chan were to tag along and say hello, she wouldn't mind in the slightest.

* * *

Choko stifled a smile as Honey-chan overflowed Skrillex-kun's tea cup, the sugarplum tea spilling up to stain his pants a darker shade of black. Queen Vanellope-hime laughed out loud however, and soon the whole table was bent over with a bad case of the giggles. "So how did you all get to meet Choko?"

"Well, she got lost in my game and we bonded at the bottom of a sink hole, so I can safely assume that we're the best of friends now." Skrillex-kun and Choko giggled, and he wiped down his front with a linen. "Honey's a mystery though; one second she's helping us out of a pit, the next she thinks' I'm the Wicked Witch of the West."

Honey-chan stuck out her tongue. "Like anyone can see it with all that black you wear! What, was the rest of your clothes sacrificed in the name of the Hipster Lord?"

"Yep, the same cult that burned all your clothes and left you with a fabulously Gothic Lolita dress."

She glared at him for a murderous moment before breaking into a grin and nodding. "I like him."

The Queen laughed and shook her head. "Well, I'm glad to see you all are pals now, because I have a bit of a proposition." She stood up and gazed down at their expectant faces. "As we all know, no game is perfect and a lot of the games here in the arcade have glitches and bugs in need of fixing. I've talked to everyone in this arcade at least once, and the three people most qualified to fix those glitches—not just tell people a quick cheat fix, but actually patch the broken code—are sitting in front of me."

She smiled, hands on her hips. "We have Choko, an imported character who unlocked herself even after our game was reset, who's been going around in her down time to help others. Then we have Mr. Skrillex, a character downloaded into a game without a hitch, who's kept our arcade's rhythm games going strong all by himself. And then we have Honey, a former glitch by design, who knows more about cheat codes and how to deal with corrupted characters than anyone else I know. Guys, I think we have the makings of a team of...of code busters here."

Everyone blushed and shifted under her praise, Skrillex-kun mumbling about how it wasn't such a big deal. "But it is a big deal guys, just ask Honey what it's like to not be a glitch anymore. Just as me!" The Queen turned towards Choko, smiling fondly. "I think you guys can fix the whole arcade given the chance, which is why I'm promoting Choko to Executive Secretary of Intra-Arcade Code Regulations." She watched Choko's eyes go wide, smirking, "I got one of my personal attendants, Nilla Beanson, to fill in your old duties, Choko, so you have freedom for this job. Care to accept?"

"I..." Choko's mind was blown harder than Bubblebetty-chan's record setting gum bubble. She could serve both the Queen and the arcade now, and judging from the exited looks on Skrillex-kun's and Honey-chan's faces, now she had a team to help her. "I don't know what to say—"

"Then just nod and eat your cake before it gets old." Queen Vanellope-hime sat back down and adjusted her gloves. "You guys have a long list of games to check up on; you ready for it?"

Choko nodded with the rest of her "Codebusters", as her queen had put it, and smiled to herself. As long as they had their Action Replays handy and their spirits strong, they were ready for anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And end the prologue to a very long saga in the arcade!
> 
> The Codebusters are the imported character Choko Pockystix from Sugar Rush, the downloaded character Skrillex from DJ Hero 2 (that totally explains his cameo in the movie, I am a genius), and the former glitch Honey the Cat from Sonic the Fighters. They have the most knowledge of programming in this continuity, so now they get to game jump and get their hands dirty in all sorts of messes. Yay.
> 
> 済みません (Sumimasen): Excuse me
> 
> びしょうねん (Bishounen): a very pretty boy
> 
> I'll be sure to translate anything Choko says in Japanese. Also, the POV of the next chapters will switch between the three Codebusters, so only in Choko's parts will there be so many Japanese honorifics. Before you ask, -san is generic Mr./Ms./Mrs., -chan means Miss and is reserved for young female friends, -kun is for young male friends, and -hime is for princesses. Annoying I know, but that's how she refers to people in thought and speech.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed, and if you have any requests on which games you want to see, put them by me cuz there's a lot I need to write about! :D


	2. Super Monkey Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Super Monkey Ball and fall off cliffs.

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey was standing outside of Sugar Rush with Skrillex, a.k.a. the Hipster Lord, and she bounced on the heels of her black boots. They were in gray jump suits with a giant red C on the back, their names printed in lovely script on the ID cards hanging around their necks. Honey had laughed way too hard when Skrillex accepted his suit with reluctance—she doubted he owned any clothing with color—and he had begun the greatest slap fight of all time outside of Amy and Nack fighting over the last sugar cookie. She was liking the long-haired loser more and more each second.

A white blur blasted out of the port and stopped on a dime in front of them. Choko was in a large white cart decorated with blue and green icing, "Codebusters" decorated on the sides with blocky red fondant letters. Unlike the other carts in Sugar Rush—to be honest, Honey wondered how any of them had teeth by now—their cart had a row of back seats, red marsh mellow upholstery looking way too comfortable to be made of candy.

Honey jumped into the cart and resisted the urge to gnaw on the cookie door. Skrillex set his backpack in the middle seat and held in a grin as Choko called back, "Are you ready?"

"Heck yes we are!" They sped off towards Super Monkey Ball, Honey fighting down the urge to crush them all in a monster hug. Two days ago she was corrupted into a frozen block, now she was off kicking code errors in their programming. Life was super spectacular.

* * *

Ok, so maybe life wasn't super spectacular at the moment.

They had shown up to a frantic Ai Ai; apparently his friend Mee Mee was stuck until the ball physics were up and running smoothly again. Honey felt bad for the monkeys, it really did suck having to wait for someone to reset them, and had asked how she had gotten stuck.

So Ai Ai had spawned them at the top of one of his tracks, rainbows and waterfalls making the entire scenario far too cheerful in her opinion. Skrillex was recording the game's background track—apparently the state of the music is a big indicator if the bug is localized or affecting the whole game, and after running it through a laptop he pulled out of his bag, he shook his head. "This isn't the only place where the physics have broken, right?"

Ai Ai nodded fervently, Choko translating that "it's been going on in every level, and now Mee Mee-chan is at the bottom of the level, but the ball won't bring her back up!"

Honey bit her lip and looked over the edge of the track; there was a tiny figure spinning uncontrollably at the bottom way down there, and she stomped her foot. "We need to pinpoint where the ball physics start going wonky!"

So that was how she had found herself in one of the balls, Skrillex tapping the smooth edge of her sphere. "Once the sound effects for the ball start glitching, stop the ball so Choko can identify the code we need, ok?"

"Got it; try not and weep at our parting, Sonny boy."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Honey face."

She stuck her tongue out at him and hesitantly rolled forward, noting that she was going much more smoothly than her nightmare scenario. The whole physics engine of the game were actually really cool, with the scenery bending to her whim. Rounding a ramped curve, she noticed that the soft whirling noise of her ball glitched, and she stomped on the brakes. "Choko, it's the curves!" But them her ball went wild and the whole track span uncontrollably, her ball launching itself into the air and over the edge.

Screaming the whole way down, Honey acknowledged that sometimes life was lamer than a bunch of overripe bananas.

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

Skrillex peered over the edge, locating the two tiny balls gyrating without end. Choko was fiddling with her ID card, which was actually a skeleton key Action Replay, and was apparently fighting down a panic attack. He didn't blame her; when the game launched Honey into the abyss it was worse than losing your rhythm on an expert track. Still, it was pretty foking hilarious if you lacked a sense of empathy or a soul; he was pretty sure half of the DJs back home would've been in hysterics.

Ai Ai was turning in circles back at the starting point, yelling at his fellow characters as the ball physics went AWOL and tried to catapult him into the stratosphere. Skrillex kinda wanted to blast angry bass at the monkeys—did they  _not_  just see what happened thirty seconds ago?—but opted for hovering near Choko. "You think you figured out what went wrong?"

"I have: there's a bug in the turning mechanism that causes the ball to lose its collision detection and for the scenery to tilt out of control. I think that years of being played caused a tiny programming error to finally come out of the code..." Choko played with the pocky sticks in her bun and turned back to the monkeys. "I know how to fix this, but we need someone to beat the level first."

Skrillex then realized that fate hated their guts, because when Ai Ai turned to roll down to Choko, his ball launched the poor kid into a waterfall, the glitching scenery doing the same to the other two characters. They all screeched as they fell down to where Honey and Mee Mee were, and the cheerful music eventually drowned out their yelling. "...three little monkeys jumping on the bed..."

* * *

"So all we gotta do is roll down this tiny little track?"

"Yes."

"And avoid spinning out to our dooms, of course."

"Yes. Try making gradual curves instead of drifting hard."

"...Choko, I'm a stationary avatar. I don't even know how to foking drift!"

"Well then you should do great! We go on 4. Ready?"

"Not really."

"1..."

"Ok, it's just like mixing a track, no problem, except that I'm the track."

"2..."

"And also this game is broken and I might end up at the bottom of a waterfall with Honey for the rest of my life. No problem."

"3..."

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap Choko we can't do this we're gonna fall CHOKO ARE YOU LISTENING—"

"4!"

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

Choko let out a squeal as they barreled down the track, the curve of doom coming up ahead. Skrillex-kun had taken her advice and was curving sweetly to avoid losing control, and she pulled ahead. Quickly moving her admittedly short legs so she wouldn't fall over, Choko used every bit of skill racing had taught her to not freak out at the very sharp turn bending the track towards the goal. "Right then, we can't drift but that is a textbook pin turn, not enough track to edge that out...I'll just have to—SONNY SLOW DOWN!"

Skrillex-kun had fallen over in his ball and was speeding towards his destruction. The shock had knocked her over as well, and they screamed their way towards the turn. Skrillex-kun's ball glitched and then they were in the air, the whole track upending itself as if it were in a mixing bowl.

But then Skrillex-kun grabbed onto his ID and threw himself forward, his headphones out. The background music changed from its glitching soundtrack to a much more mellow mix Choko recognized from DJ Hero 2, and their balls calmed down enough for them to land back on the track and smash through the goal. Choko then popped out of her ball and stabbed the ground with her Action Replay, causing everything except for her and Skrillex-kun to freeze. He popped out of his ball, putting his headphones back in his bag. "Wow, I didn't know that would—"

She hugged him around the middle, jostling in around as she bounced excitedly. "That was amazing! How did you know that this game's speed was affected by the tempo of the music? I didn't even think that was part of the problem!"

He blushed and shrugged. "Well, I noticed that the background was going about 15 bpm faster, as if the timer was about to run out, and when Honey glitched out it went even faster. I think the ball goes faster when you're running out of time, really screwing up the already messed up ball physics, so I pulled it back enough to give us back control."

Choko took a moment to thank Vanellope-heika for adding a rhythm based character to their team, squeezed him a bit, then turned back to her Action Replay, which had opened a portal to the game's code well. "You think you can work your magic down there too, Sonny-kun?"

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

She cradled her cheek in her palm as her Codebusters reported for the day. Honey had tripped Skrillex on their entrance to the tea room, so she figured that he had saved her at one point. And after listening to their misadventures in Super Monkey Ball, she wasn't incorrect. "So you put in a code patch that fixed the game, right?"

"Yes, Vanellope-heika. We had Ai Ai and Mee Mee race down a few more tracks and both the ball physics and the soundtrack stayed stable." Choko motioned for Honey to step forward, who was pulling a large crate of bananas behind her on a wagon. "They gave us 100 of their very best bananas as a thank you."

"Ooh, we can make banana bread. I should invite them for tea." Nilla was writing down notes behind her—the girl was shaping up to be a good successor to Choko— and Vanellope smiled down at her exhausted team. "It looks like you three can use some tea."

They shrugged, trying to to look too eager for hot drinks and food, and Vanellope waved in a few gummi bears to start setting the table. "So while we're waiting, can someone tell me who was the first to fall in the pit?"

"It was Honey, Your Queenliness, she drifted too hard on a turn—"

"Like you were any better, Mr. Let Me Barrel Towards My Destruction!"

"At least I didn't launch myself off the track! What, are you too used to falling down in your game?"

"Hah! Coming from a stand-still character, I'm surprised you knew how to control the ball at all!"

"Leave my game model out of this!"

Between them and Choko desperately trying to hold the two back, Vanellope laughed hard enough to fall out of her throne. Oh, her Codebusters were getting along perfectly fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of their first game jump! I'm pretty sure someone who had played Super Monkey Ball longer than I have will call BS on my theory, but I swear, the timer makes the ball 20x times harder to control. Or maybe that's just me freaking out...
> 
> As a reader once very helpfully pointed out, -heika means "Majesty", so now I don't have to write out Queen Vanellope-hime every time Choko wants to speak. It makes life a lot easier.


	3. Ms. Pac Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Ms. Pac Man and float in a void.

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

He stretched his arms up over his head, leaning back against the cupcake chair. Choko and Honey were talking to Queen Van about...baking tips, or something, and he was getting antsy to go out and fix whatever was bothering Ms. Pac Man. That console was pretty close to the rhythm games, and whenever he was idling about he could hear frustrated gamers beating up on her console. Which was pretty foking terrible, because then they showed up to his game all upset and mixed like a three year old toddler drunk on vodka and Red Bull. And nobody should have to deal with that.

Getting out his Mac, he played around with a track he was mixing—say what you will about producing music as opposed to DJing on the turntables, he was a master at both—before jolting out of his seat when a certain black haired brat decided to sneak up on him. "Woah, you jumped like a foot in the air! You were almost an average height for a second!"

"Go get KO'ed, pixel princess." He checked over his Mac for damage, sighing in relief when he found none.

"Big talk from a stick in the static; you actually gonna walk in a straight line today?"

"Go roll down that track in SMB without falling off and then we'll talk."

Choko then grabbed them both by the ears—fok that hurt, didn't she see the plug in his ears?—and more or less threw them in the Codemobile, waving goodbye to a giggling Queen Van. The whole lot of Sugar Rush racers were babies, they were foking adorable, and as Choko started up the engine he earmarked his track. Best not to lose track of that one in the rush of all the music he liked to create for bonus tracks.

Honey stretched out, flipping his undercut, and giggled behind her gloved palm. "You hair is as long as mine, Sonny boy."

He glared at her twin tails thumping against her back.

"And your hair is almost as pretty as mine, too! Just needs a little trim and a good washing. You must grease it up with like...do they grease up the turn tables, or does that screw up the music?"

He sputtered as Choko sang from the front, "Somebody needs a makeover!"

"Ooh! I have really good moisturizer for your face, and we can work on your roots once we've done that!"

"Taffyta-chan has the best strawberry shampoo out of any Sugar Rush console, and Snowanna-chan has even better conditioner."

"Dude, I need to meet up with them, because my hair is drying out from kicking so much butt lately."

"Oh, then we need to talk to Rancis-kun, he has this fluggeroil serum that is just marvelous~!"

Skrillex groaned and thumped the back of his head against his seat. Yes, they were adorable and really good at manipulating code, but did they both have to be girls?

* * *

Ms. Pac Man greeted them outside of the game, her bow shifting as she paced with worry. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here! Mee Mee told me how you Codebusters saved her game, do you think you can do the same for me?"

"We'll do the very best we can, Ms."

"Oh, it's Mrs. outside of gaming hours, dearie. Pac finally proposed after all those years of chasing, but that was ages ago." Skrillex found it a bit hard to understand her under her heavy wakkawakka accent, but the little dreamy lilt her voice took on at the end was more obvious than any blaring synth. "Still, I should show you the problem I've been having. Quickly now, on the tram."

They piled onto the little pink train—of course it was pink, between Choko's hair and Honey's lip gloss, he was going to  _turn_  pink—and sped into her console. As they approached their stop he pulled out his Mac and checked the GCS inventory of background music, listening to the normal run of Ms. Pac Man's sound effects. He snorted; they sounded pretty pink, too.

More importantly, the noise coming out of the game was just a little...off compared to the sounds in his laptop. The train came to a stop and he put his equipment away, falling into step with the rest of the Codebusters. Choko spoke up first. "Ok, Mrs. Pac Man-san, what is the...problem..."

"...oh my."

"It's been like this ever since two days ago, and we may not be the most popular of games anymore, but people have noticed!"

"...ah, I can see why this is a problem."

"Is it always like...this?"

"No, but they always end up here!"

"...that's not good."

"Do you think we're going to be unplugged?"

"Um..."

"...well, the music's holding together pretty...nicely."

"Yes...that's always a good thing."

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

Choko had never been so thankful to have a 64-bit computer processor.

They were floating...well, not above the maze of Ms. Pac Man but they sure weren't in it. Honey-chan was trying to talk to the ghosts but they were stuck in their maze, an invisible wall appearing just as they had entered. Apparently that wasn't supposed to happen, but between an invisible stage and no hit detection, Choko wouldn't be surprised if the cast of Mortal Kombat came in dancing in a conga line.

Hanging out with Marzipanne-chan had done things to her sense of humor.

But she digressed; they had a job to do, and Mrs. Pac Man-san needed to complete the level before they could patch the game. The...whatever Mrs. Pac Man-san was, was currently leading Skrillex-kun through the darkness, explaining how the boundaries of the maze turned into warp tunnels. Choko sighed and carefully walked through the empty stage, kicking at the nothingness. It was far too similar to the Void she had once been trapped in for her liking. Even though her memory had just been restored, she could never forget how the darkness had swallowed her whole.

She walked up to Honey-chan, who was talking to the orange ghost named Sue-san, and Choko noticed how she too was uneasy in the dark. "Do we have anything useful?"

"Sue here says that the whole mess began when one gamer beat the game all the way to the very last kill screen." Honey-chan tugged on a ponytail, shuffling her feet. "Maybe the game's in a loop around this setting?"

"Maybe, but then why would the other kill screens load before this one?" Skrillex-kun was back, arms out in front of his body; poor thing must be completely blind even with his glasses on.

"Then maybe not a perfect loop. Mrs. Pac Man, you said that sometimes other stages would load before this one?"

"Yes, sometimes glitchy junior stages would pop up, but not always." Mrs. Pac Man-san circled the small group, wailing, "At least with Pac's game it's a single kill screen, but here you have a whole mess of them! Oh, we're going to be unplugged for sure!"

Choko stamped her foot. "Not if we can help it, Mrs. Pac Man-san!" She wandered around the edge of the box holding in the ghosts, running her fingers against the invisible wall. "You said that the boundary turned into warp tunnels. Why is this still stable?"

"This is a separate part of the game, where only the ghosts can enter." Sue-san was yelling past the invisible wall holding herself and the other ghosts in. "The entry to the code well is even in here."

Choko's mind went away from the scene back to Sugar Rush, where Vanellope-heika had shown her everything she knew about their game's cheat cartridge. "...wait, I think I know how to fix this!"

"How?"

Choko grinned and turned back to Skrillex-kun. "What do you know about debug mode?"

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey flexed her fingers, before smashing her fists against the invisible wall holding back the ghosts. She devolved into pixels  **(it's ok just breathe, you're in control and the darkness isn't the bad place)**  making the wall burst into static, melting away as she regained control over her sprite. Everyone cheered and she blushed, holding down her burst of pixlexia. "Let's roll out, Codebusters!"

She led the team into the holding cell, Sue opening the code well with a few motions of the giant joystick hidden behind a frilly pink curtain. The code for Ms. Pac Man was much simpler than that of Sonic the Fighters or Sugar Rush, and Honey didn't even want to think about DJ Hero 2. With the ghosts hovering and Mrs. Pac Man wakkawakka-ing out a warning, they floated down to the flickering programming boxes. "Ok, we all have our Game Genies?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, so Choko said to go into debug mode...so glad Sonic showed me how...ok we got the sound test. Sonny, what's the right combo?"

"We need two main themes, five #16 sound effects, two of #2, and then the game over track."

"...kay I got it. Choko, what do I do?"

"We don't want a factory restore because that's too risky; it took us three months to get our memories back after Vanellope-heika deleted the virus. What we need is to break the loop fixated around the kill screens."

"Ok, then we should have Mrs. Pac go back to level 1 in debug mode and beat it that way?"

"Not if we want to remind the game to function properly on its own."

"Well crap guys, that's the only way back to start. How did this loop start anyway?"

"Not many gamers come all the way to this point. I bet it made a closed circuit when the buggy stage got reached."

"Then how to we break the circuit?"

"What if we have her beat level this level in debug mode, spawning a dot map?"

"Why would we want that, hipster breath?!"

"Haven't you ever triggered your game's watchdog?"

"What's a watchdog, Sonny-kun?"

"A watchdog detects game errors and forces a reset of the game. Obviously these kill screens are an exception, since they "technically" work, but Ms. Pac Man says that gamers only come here before letting the timer run out and make the game start over at the beginning of the bugged loop. So this is the last "technically" correct level before the watchdog detects an error. So if we beat this level and overstep the boundary, we execute the error detection..."

"...then we break the loop of kill screens!"

"Oh Sonny boy, I could kiss you right now!"

"Oh you're too kind, Honey face, but save the romance for after hours."

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

She held in a giggle as Pollipop applied a large slather of cocoa butter to his face.

Mrs. Pac Man had been there earlier, gushing over the Codebusters fixing her game and promising to spread the word to everyone. All three of the code masters had gotten large kisses from the lady, huge lipstick marks coloring half of their faces.

Skrillex had tried to bail afterwards, the little diaper baby, but then Honey had tackled him to the ground and yelled that a makeover was in order. That had called out all the other racers out of the candy cane woodwork, surrounding the poor DJ with various shampoos, leave in conditioners, and the dreaded nail polish.

Vanellope had challenged him to just  _try_  and escape, but he was way smarter than Ralph had been, and submitted to his fate. She knew there was a reason why she'd picked him in the first place.

Now he was in a pretty lavender robe with Honey and Choko rubbing in Rancis's premium fluggeroil serum into his roots, Minty and Sour Apple debating which shade of coral nail polish would go best with his skin completion.

Thankfully the two weren't fighting anymore—heck, they were best friends now, always having sleepovers with whomever they could pull into each others' tracks. Vanellope herself had gone to one, and she still had the apple red nails to show for it.

She helped Crumbelina pick out more jackets for Skrillex to wear, everyone of the opinion that he wore too much black. Even the black licorice bats from Gloyd's level were offended by how much black he wore. "Hmm, maybe this black cherry would go well; he does have this reputation to uphold."

"Nah, all the more reason to mix things up with apple green."

"Why not both?"

They laughed to themselves, and fell over in hysterics as Skrillex tried to make a break for it when Marizpanne pulled out her favorite flat iron. Adorabeezle and Taffyta held him down, Bubblebetty squealing that he was going to have the prettiest waves this side of the blue raspberry sea. "Somebody needs to get this on camera."

Honey then grinned a very evil grin, and Vanellope gasped. "Honey, what did you do?"

Nilla then ran forward, reporting that someone by the name of deadmau5 was right outside, apparently there to take Skrillex home after his makeover. Vanellope gaped at Honey, who was high fiving Choko behind the spa chair, and the Queen shook her head. These kids were right monsters, evil little cavities, and she loved every bit of it.

* * *

"Dude! You're prettier than a girl!"

"Go fok yourself, Joel! I am fabulous!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that just happened. And I had too much fun writing it.
> 
> On the subject of Ms. Pac Man, that game has a series of kill screens from level 134 to level 142, the last of which triggers the programming's watchdog and forces a reset. Somehow the game had gotten stuck playing levels 134 to 141 on repeat, probably due to the game being pretty old and the kill screens being so buggy. But once they spawned enough dots for Mrs. Pac Man to eat and beat the last kill screen, they forced a reset and broke the loop, fixing the game. Pac Man only has a garbled split screen, making it a more creepy but much easily fixed problem as opposed to this.
> 
> Hopefully that wasn't too weird, I've been experimenting with writing only dialogue scenes. Blame my creative writing courses. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it :D


	4. Angel Kids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Angel Kids and are sucked into the sky.

**Choko's POV**

* * *

While she would be a little reluctant to admit it, Choko was of the firm opinion that Honey was some sort of 招き猫 (maneki-neko).

Earlier that night, just after the arcade had closed and Choko was free to go off with her team, she had tripped on a fallen candy cane branch and nearly fell into a taffy pool. Honey-chan, who had taken the day off in order to practice keeping her pixels together in times of stress, had saved Choko from a very nasty dip in bright purple taffy. Then when they had trekked towards the port to GCS, Choko was nearly run over by a racing Pollipop-chan and Adorabeezle-chan; Honey-chan had pulled her back and yelled at the candy racers to "go get their carts tilted" or something along those lines. It was hard to tell when Honey-chan used such brash language.

Now Honey-chan was trying very hard not to play with Skrillex-kun's hair, which was very wavy and shiny and glorious. Choko made a mental note to thank Rancis-kun for the use of his serum. It just did wonders beyond any ordinary hair care product.

Smiling to herself, Choko pressed the bright green button on her cookie dashboard, frowning when the engine failed to turn over. Skrillex-kun mentioned that maybe it needed a quick trip to the Bakery—and he was admiring his coral flavored nail polish, Choko knew he protested a bit too much—and Choko huffed; they needed to get to the Angel Kids pronto and they didn't have time to fix the cart. Then Honey-chan got out and kicked the side just under the fondant R, grinning smugly when the engine roared into life. "Percussive maintenance is how we get things done in our game."

"So hitting you in the back of the head is now a good course of action? Awesome."

"Go ahead and try, pretty boy."

"You're just hating because my nails are foking amazing."

Choko tuned out their banter and sped towards Angel Kids. If Honey-chan's luck held up, then maybe they'd be in and out without risking their lives as usual.

* * *

One of the Kids bounced towards them, her childishly simple face filled with worry. "Oh, I'm so glad you're here!"

"We're here to help, Angela-chan. Can you tell us what's wrong?"

Angela-chan led them into her game, which consisted of various towers and beanstalks and what Choko thought was a large naked man. Skrillex-kun gave Honey-chan an aside glance, who sputtered that just because her game was also made by SEGA didn't mean that there were stages filled with naked legs. Angela-chan skipped towards her fellow Kids Angelo-kun and Ansel-kun, who were wringing their hands at the base of a beanstalk. "Ok kids, what's the problem?"

Angelo-kun told Honey-chan to look up, and the three code masters could see various children flying out of control at the top of the beanstalk, coins and shoes raining from the heavens. Angela-chan side stepped a falling diamond ring, then squeaked, "Our game was completely fine until just a few hours before closing, and then we lost control! We couldn't float, the others started crashing everywhere...it's a mess!"

"Yes, yes it is." Skrillex-kun shook his head, snapping his laptop shut. "Whatever it is, it's way deeper than just a physics error; the soundtrack is completely fine."

"And nothing seems to be glitching as far as I can see..." Honey-chan motioned towards the pink jump rope Angelo-kun and Ansel-kun were carrying. "I'm sorry, but how does your game work again?"

"Oh, we'll show you!" Angelo-kun handed Angela-chan his end, then the two Kids held the rope taut, the brown haired boy spanning his arms. "All we have to do is get the kids to jump to the top of the stages by making them bounce on here." He jumped on the rope, and the three carried themselves up a bit, Angelo-kun calling down, "That's all there is—"

A soft clicking noise beneath the racket of sound effects above made Skrillex-kun dash forward, but it was too late. Angelo-kun froze in place before skyrocketing, flipping all over the stage with no collision to keep him from phasing through the walls like a mirror match ghost. Angela-chan screamed, then fell back to the ground, falling harshly on Skrillex-kun's head. Honey-chan caught Ansel-kun in a lucky save, then they silently watched Angelo-kun pinball at the top of the world.

"..."

"...so does anyone have any idea what just happened?"

Skrillex-kun shook himself, then grimly stated, "I really hope I'm not wrong, but Angela, is a soft blip part of your sound effects?"

"Not that I've ever heard, why?"

"Well—" Suddenly he was up in the air, Honey-chan diving to save his backpack as the level split and dropped the remaining characters halfway through the ground. Choko struggled to free herself as Angela-chan and Ansel-kun worked themselves into panic attacks—the poor 子供 (kodomo) were going to make themselves faint—and Honey-chan forced herself to pixelate out of the ground.

"What was he about to say?!"

"I don't know Ansel, he's way up there!"

"Why is it that the only time Princess Hipster has something important to say, he gets  _sucked into the sky_?"

"We're going to get unplugged! I don't want to live on a bench!"

"Calm down Angela-chan! We can fix this—Honey-chan, a little help?"

"Wha—oh, lemme fix that..."

"Ouch!"

"Sorry Kid, pixels can be pointy. Choko, what do we do now?"

"We need access to the code well. Ansel-kun, where do you enter your game's programming?"

"At the top of that beanstalk."

"..."

It seemed to Choko that Honey-chan's luck aura was running low.

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

"So we just bounce up to the top like on a trampoline?"

"Yep!"

Honey privately thought that this was going to be her death—not even privately, she flat out told Choko they were going to die—but sucked it up. Sonic would've charged right into the thick of the battle, big black eyes all narrowed with determination, his silky blue quills sharp for a fight...she blinked. Jeez, she was daydreaming again. She snorted to herself and held tightly onto Choko's sugar sticky hand, standing on a small ledge over a smiling Angela and Ansel. "You ready for this?"

"Hopefully the game won't affect us as greatly as the Kids, so we'll be fine."

"Skrillex is bumping around the stratosphere, Choko."

"Well...he almost said the problem out loud. Perhaps he jinxed it."

" _Jinxed_  it."

"Yes, like spinning your wheels before the timer starts. Anyway, we jump on 4. 1..."

"Is this what Sonny went through back in SMB?"

"2..."

"By Chaos, he did!"

"3..."

"Welp, time to prove who's the best at platforming."

"4!"

They jumped into the cord and bounced high into the air, screaming as they flipped into balloons. Angela and Ansel floated up to catch their rebound, and Honey relaxed just a bit into the tumbles that Nack was teaching her through. Curl here, absorb the bounce there, and try not to think about the broken pair of glasses below. Honey the Cat was the best secret character this side of Street Fighter, thank you very much, and she'd be beaten by Dr. Robotnik before she would freak out over something like this.

Choko bounced off of her back— _oww_  by the way, did she fill her obi with rocks?—and Honey resisted the urge to flatten her ears. Whatever was wrong with bleeps and bloops was way over her action-minded head, but she could live without being launched into the 16-bit ceiling until Mr. Litwak came to put them out of their misery. Angela yelled that they were halfway up the beanstalk, and Honey let out a sigh of relief.

Ansel then proceeded to drop like a rock, dragging Angela and their jump rope down with him.

Well...Chaos is as Chaos does, or something like that.

Honey clawed onto the beanstalk and let out a very unladylike tirade as Choko grabbed onto her tail to keep from falling to her death. Screaming at Skrillex, who was making Mobius loops somewhere to her right, that he owed her at least three albums in her honor, she clawed her way up the level, glitching her hands wrist-deep into the stalk to keep from losing her grip.

"Choko! Adjust your grip!"

"Umm...is that—"

"NO, GO BACK TO WHERE YOU WERE."

"ごめんなさい (Gomen'nasai) Honey-chan, but it's a really far drop..."

"This is the stupidest thing we've ever done! How can this get any worse?"

"—FOKFOKHONEYMOVEBEFOREI—"

Honey shrieked as Skrillex slammed into her and knocked her up into the air, Choko's frightened squeal ending with a loud "oomf!" as she landed at the top of the stage. With a quickness she was impressed by, Skrillex grabbed onto Honey's wrists and yelled, "THE CHECKSUM FOUND THE SRAM" before throwing her at the beanstalk and careening back into a group of flailing children. Honey grit her teeth as she landed, before rolling onto her side. Even if she was the queen of a fighting game, it always hurt to hit the ground at around 30 mph.

"Honey-chan, we need to fix the game as quickly as possible!"

Choko helped Honey to her feet, the cat straightening her twin tails. "Can we patch the game or do we need one of the Kids up here?"

"Technically they're already up here, and we just beat the stage so we're good to go."

"Awesome." Honey stretched her arms up over her head. "Now let's hurry; Sonny boy was looking a little green around the undercut."

* * *

Honey floated in the code well, looking at the code boxes. "Don't these look a little...weird to you?"

"Especially the ones running the game, just look." It was true; unlike the pink and blue of Honey's game, the Angel Kids programming was dominated by purples and yellows, and a few very ill-looking green ones. "What exactly did Sonny-kun say to you?"

"Something about a checksum and sram, whatever that is." Honey gazed back up at the entrance to the code well, where Angela was hovering. "My game is a lot different than whatever is wrong here."

Choko paused, then Honey watched the pink flush drain out of her cheeks. "What was the last bit?"

"Sram, why?"

"...I think he meant SRAM, I think he meant SRAM!"

Honey watched Choko frantically pull herself out of the code well, following in concern. "What's that?"

Choko crawled up to Angela, her bright green eyes flashing. "Angela-chan, is your game a legitimate copy?"

Angela froze, then flushed. "I...what does that have to do with anything?"

"It means everything!" Choko whirled about in agitation. "That blip Sonny-kun heard, it was the checksum detecting an unusual amount of SRAM! That's why your game is broken: the anti-piracy codes have been triggered!"

Angela gasped and backed away. "B-but that's not true! We're the same as any other game!"

"Normal game coding is blue and pink, but yours is purple and yellow. Not to mention in the character models the angels are supposed to be two males instead of two boys and a girl..." Choko trailed off as she saw tears form in Angela's eyes. "Oh I'm so sorry about raising my voice, 済みません (sumimasen). But now that we know why the game isn't working, we can take out the anti-piracy triggers and you'll be sweeter than a bun cake."

Honey smiled as Angela hugged Choko, then turned back to the code well. It wasn't an easy thing, to convince a game that some of its programming should be taken out for the good of the characters within, but what did she know?

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

Vanellope shared an aside glance with Choko then giggled.

Skrillex was laid up on a marsh mellow couch in one of the castle's relaxation rooms, glasses fixed and placed on a side table. According to Choko, he had been sick ever since she and Honey patched up Angel Kids, his equilibrium shot like a sweet seeker out for revenge. Honey had been unusually kind, and was currently brushing out the tangles in his hair, but Vanellope figured that her fighting code kept her from kicking a man when he was down. She had all of tomorrow to make up for it, after all.

Choko sipped her sweet green tea then cocked her head. "Vanellope-heika, I must say...do you think the two are...you know?"

"Hmm?"

Choko held out a dainty pinkie finger.

"Oh no oh no!" Vanellope put her fist in her mouth to keep from laughing too loud. "Oh, I know who she likes, but it's not him. Besides, can you imagine the two together?"

"Like Rancis-kun and Taffyta-chan?"

"Or Gloyd and Snowanna?"

"Or Minty-chan and Sour Apple-chan!"

* * *

"Why are they— _fok_ , my hair—rolling on the floor laughing?"

"Well, maybe if you would wear brighter colors maybe you'd have a more sunny deposition."

"And take away your source of endless enjoyment?"

"Oh you're too kind."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 招き猫 (maneki-neko): a cat figure which is often believed to bring good luck to the owner (Choko is saying that Honey is a good luck charm)
> 
> 子供 (kodomo): children
> 
> ごめんなさい (Gomen'nasai): I'm sorry
> 
> 済みません (sumimasen): Excuse me
> 
> And that's that!
> 
> The checksum routine that's referenced here is a kind of anti-piracy measure. Namely, a routine checks to see how much SRAM (memory used for saving, in this case like saving top name scores) is in the game. Pirated versions usually have more SRAM than usual, so the routine goes off and any measure of anti-piracy actions take place, such as breaking the game. Obviously the failsafes are not failsafe, as Angel Kids has been working for some years now, but it was bound to catch up with them.
> 
> I've come to the conclusion that the Angel Kids game in Litwak's Arcade is a modified version, because in the original game there are two angels and one girl with green hair. In Wreck-It Ralph three angels are seen, one girl (Angela) and two boys, one of whom (Ansel) has much darker skin than the other (Angelo). So I figured that since Angel Kids is such an obscure game, Mr. Litwak didn't know that he had a pirated console. I also think that I need a life.


	5. TRON

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to TRON and briefly touch upon the art of war.

**Honey's POV**

* * *

It was odd to find a quiet moment in her life outside of being in a frozen limbo hell for around 16 years, but Honey was enjoying the peace. To her left Skrillex was doing his music thing on his laptop, plugged in and shutting out the world, and to her right was Choko, who was hemming one of her kimonos with some refined cotton candy thread.

They were waiting for Mr. Litwak to leave his office and officially close the arcade; he was talking to his nephew or something and was excited, judging from the large arm movements he was making. Honestly, humans were as awkward as crowd filler and twice as useless, save the whole playing their games thing.

The old man finally bailed and freed the arcade from going through idle animations, Choko bouncing up from her perch. "Vanellope-heika said that the people of TRON need us to look over their programming."

"Ooh, I've never been there before." TRON was barely visible from her home game of Sonic the Fighters, but it seemed to be a cool place to visit. Honey wondered if Sonic would like to go and explore a bit after they fixed whatever the bug demons decided to throw at them—maybe they'd even go racing!

The sole male of their motley group stood up and stretched impressively for his diminutive height. "Joel said the place used to be a big coin sinker back before they made the switch to 3D."

"Poor things, couldn't keep up with the pixels." Honey flipped his hair as they made their way to the Codemobile, the sugar sweet dust of Sugar Rush making their boots stick to the ground. "Ugh, I hope we don't track candy into their data. They'd probably glitch to have their enemies be giant lollipops or something."

"Hey, I take offense to that!" Choko stuck out her tongue—it was bright purple,  _somebody_ must've been sneaking gumdrops between their races—and jumped into the front seat. Honey shoved Skrillex out of her way since he moved as quickly as a first-gen CD load screen, and Choko giggled. "You could stand to be a little more sweet, Honey-chan."

"Especially with a name like that." Skrillex grinned and Honey wanted to deck him in his too big glasses and even bigger nose.

"Then what the heck does Skrillex say for your character? 'Look at me I was a teenage screamo poster child'?"

Choko's laughter masked his shout of outrage, but couldn't cover him lunging at Honey in the small space afforded in the kart. And between Choko's too fast driving and the balance needed to show Sonny boy who was boss without KO-ing him outside of his game, Honey was having a blast. Quiet moments were overrated anyway.

* * *

What did Dr. Robotnik say about hindsight and watching what you say?

Honey sidestepped a grid bug as it and about 20 or so of its cousins decided to bum rush a group of battle tanks. Up above recognizers were duking it out like a game adaptation of the Red Baron and the Flying Circus, and whatever in Chaos was that weird cone thing was spawning like crazy. Honey couldn't hear herself think under all the sound effects, and her only consolation was that Skrillex was in worse off condition since he couldn't stand anything less than audio perfection.

Choko was trying to talk to the first player guy, Sam or Kevin or something, but whatever was making the enemies spawn like crazy was turning him into a sprinkler machine of raw death. His shots were going wild towards them, a bunch of light cycles broke through a wall and started circling the Codebusters, and Honey threw her hands up in the air. "Screw these shenanigans! Skrillex, Choko, let's find the freaking code well!"

Honey dragged Skrillex by the undercut to round up Choko, currently hanging on the back of the hero avatar like she was going to German suplex the idiot. "Honey-chan! He says that the only way to the code well is to defeat all the enemies first!"

"For fok's sake Choko, do you  _see_ this mess?!" Skrillex was unimpressed with the code bugs trying to gnaw on his leg.

Honey swung her first into a charging tank, glitching backwards when it exploded. "At this rate these bastards are going to overflow into the arcade! We need to think creatively."

Any brainstorming was cut off as a giant glitched recognizer snatched Choko and flew off into the colorless sky. Her screams were lost under the din of too many enemies and a paralyzed avatar, but Honey heard her well. She turned towards Skrillex, cracking her knuckles. "Ever saved a princess, pretty boy?"

He eyed a couple of idling light cycles, and flashed a manic grin. "Not without a kickass transport."

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

Light cycles were currently the coolest thing outside of getting a 100% run playing Galvanize on Expert. He banked hard to vaporize the grid bugs on his left, narrowing his eyes as he spotted a slew of enemy light cycles coming his way. It was like improvising on a wicked dubstep staple, but with more death and destruction and wind getting in his face. He really needed to go back to contacts, as his glasses were currently trying to fly off his nose.

Honey came out of nowhere to slide right next to him, beams of insta-kill light trailing behind like a hanging chord. "Did you see where that thing flew off with Choko?"

"Somewhere up ahead!" A fok-ton of bugs decided to spawn up ahead, and they had to split up. Skrillex trapped his half inside his light trails, corralling them up like cattle or ravers or raving cattle, and he played with the controls on his bike. "Ok...how the hell do you slow DOOOOO—"

Well, at least he found the boost. Only experience with twisted tracks kept him from vaporizing himself on his own light trails, and he shifted the cycle down to a crawl. "Ok this is better. Now where is the princess?"

There were too many recognizers to count up in the air, but Skrillex was a sound master, and he could just hear Choko's screams of indignation filtering in from ahead. He sped up to kill some tanks—it was really satisfying to feel them hit his light trails,  _too_  satisfying—and watched Honey go head to head with a trio of enemy light cycles. They were from a tougher level or something, because she was quickly trapped in a shrinking box of death.

Without a second thought, he boosted into one of the enemies and nearly rammed into the second. Their light trails fizzled out as they died and Honey was free to take out the third with a nice corkscrew of death. They pulled up next to each other, trying not to grin too widely. "Didn't tag you for a Leeroy Jenkins, emo butt. Thought for sure you were gonna kill yourself."

"I'll have you know I had a perfect strategy!"

"And Choko doesn't sneak melted malt balls into your civilian clothing after our shifts."

"...lolwat."

"Don't tell her I said that."

Skrillex tightened his grip on the handlebars as more light cycles blared out from the horizon. "Let's focus on not dying before any big commitments."

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

"あの (Ano)...Mr. Recognizer-san? Can you please...let me down now?"

The grid below was flashing with enemies killing each other, making Choko very sick to her stomach. The metal bar wrapped around her wasn't helping.

"I'm sure that this is part of your AI, but I'm not actually part of your game. In fact, I want to help reprogram it! See, you're kinda buggy—"

Five energy shots whisked over her head, hitting the recognizer holding her up in the air with painful shudders.

"—ooh, it looks like Sonny-kun has glitched that tank into his light cycle! Now he has fire power...and he's shooting at you since, well, you know."

The trails of blue and pink light were pretty from way up here. The blue light cycle was weaving quite excellently from her perspective.

"Honey-chan is much better at turning than I'd thought she'd be. She's a nice girl, you shouldn't tell your fellow enemies to try and kill her."

A sharp cry echoed from below, and Choko huffed.

"ほんとうですか (Hontoudesuka)? Was picking up Honey-chan with one of your recognizers necessary? She has a temper you know."

Metallic ripping the din of sound effects and general chaos.

"Aaaand now she's beating the recognizer with its own arm. You should let us go so we can fix this."

Flashing pixels exploded into the black, lighting up the strangely mapped landscape.

"Sonny-kun is blasting away at those...are they cones, Mr. Recognizer-san? I should look at their coding once we fix the game."

Cheers came from around her level, along with a weird grinding noise.

"It appears that Honey-chan is riding her recognizer and it on a collision course with us."

Her perspective was off, as she was being held upside-down, but the rogue recognizer was getting closer.

"Can you let me go please? Before we both die?"

The pink light cycle was perfectly matched with her relative position.

"Oh, Sonny-kun is waiting below...are they—"

"PREPARE FOR A DROP, CHOKO!"

"Well, it was nice talking with you, Mr. Recognizer-san!"

A large explosion ripped Choko out of the metal arms and down through the air. She landed on Skrillex-kun's back with a thankfully gentle landing, even though he smashed his face into the dashboard and broke his nose. Honey-chan drove her burning wreckage to the ground and hopped onto her own cycle, grinning widely. With a large explosion the pieces of recognizer took out most of the enemies around them, and even with Skrillex-kun's unsteady driving, the Codebusters were ready to take back the game.

* * *

Choko tugged on an errant code link that was disrupting the natural flow of enemy generation in TRON. To her left Honey-chan was holding Skrillex-kun steady as he put in code to fix the wonky AI; the poor 美少年 (bishounen) was suffering from a mild concussion, and needed all the stability in the gravity lacking code well he could get. "Sonny-kun, do you know why this code box keeps trying to make connections?"

"Whell, der migh be eh vierush dat caym frum a corrubded enemieAeEi."

"...could you translate that, Honey-chan?"

"Mr. Can't Walk 3 Feet Without Injury thinks that an enemy AI program got corrupted and wanted to start taking over the game."

"Like with Turbo?!" Choko could feel the sugar rushing out of her face.

"No, Turbo was an actual character. These guys are mindless, so they didn't have the brains to do more damage than spawning too many enemies and screwing over the avatar. Hey, what was his name again?"

"I believe it was—"

"Ghott et!"

Skrillex-kun pulled out a writhing black program that was glitching red, and Choko was pulled back to a blank gray hell where she couldn't breathe past the corrupted animation crushing her face. How did Vanellope-heika manage to defeat that Virus-Van 怪物 (kaibutsu), that evil evil fiend who destroyed her home and friends and nearly their entire  _life_ —

Choko was being rocked by Honey-chan up above, the enemies gone and sated after Skrillex-kun patched the game. She was saying something about how it was going to be ok, the dark place was gone and they could move as freely as they wanted to, and she needed to stop crying because there wasn't anything to be worried about anymore.

The cacophony of sound effects was replaced with a slow, quiet melody that Choko faintly recognized as a remix of her personal theme. She sighed and relaxed into the embrace, holding onto Skrillex-kun's hand. They were right, the virus was gone and they had beat it back and saved TRON. They were the Codebusters, and no stupid coding error was going to sour her day.

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

Vanellope watched as Choko taught Skrillex and Honey how to sew. It was a weird skill set that even the tomboy queen possessed—but don't tell Ralph, that stink brain would never let something like that die—and apparently it was fascinating. She figured that people with five fingers were just inferior in the realm of cotton candy needlework.

"Your Most Majestic Sweetness, Wreck-It Ralph is waiting in the reception hall." Sour Bill was really laying it on thick with the royal stuff, but she figured it was a hold over from taking care of King Candy.

"Tell him I'll be out in a sec. I gotta check up with my favorite arcade hackers."

She bounced off her throne and brushed loose sugar sparkles off her gown. It was bubble gum pink today, since Bubblebetty swore it would go perfect with the three red pigtails she decided to load onto her sprite today. The marvels of costume switches. Speaking of which..."So deadmau5 tells me your pink and red heart jacket is a huge hit with the players."

"Joel can suck a—"

"LANGUAGE."

"—sucker pop. Jeez, you hit really hard, Honey."

"And DJ QBert said they really like it when you paint your nails lemon yellow."

"I knew you liked that color!" Choko clapped her hands and giggled at the irate glare on his face.

"We should give him another make over. That frown is going to give him wrinkles!"

"Good idea, Honey!" Vanellope laughed as Skrillex bailed for the reception hall, screaming at Ralph to run for it. As if he didn't pocket a bottle of blue raspberry eyeliner the last time he was here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> あの (Ano): like saying "umm"
> 
> ほんとうですか (Hontoudesuka): "Really?"
> 
> 美少年 (bishounen): a pretty boy. This time written with kanji.
> 
> 怪物 (kaibutsu): monster
> 
> I need to stop picking on Skrillex, but he's just too fun to mess with XD


	6. Mega Man: The Power Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Mega Man: The Power Battle and find love in a hopeless place.

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

Skrillex groaned as he thumped the back of his head against the gingerbread wall, trying to force the cacophony of noise out of his brain. Today had seen a birthday party of 7-13 year olds, and each one had the mixing skills of a broken blender pulverizing his childhood dreams. And people said his dubstep was horrible; obviously none of them had seen a pixy stick-covered baby try and play on expert.

Honey was next to him, massaging out the charley horse in her leg. The parents that brought their Sonic-obsessed tween should be taken out back and rammed through the head with a power chord; between songs Skrillex could see this pimply little twerp absolutely wrecking Sonic the Fighters. He even knocked his soda all over the cord, and Skrillex swore he saw Honey and one of the Sonics screaming such terribly adult language behind the static. Luckily Mr. Litwak came in and saved the game from taking a trip out to pasture.

Now all cleaned up and recovering from the madhouse, they were waiting for Choko to get out of her meeting with Queen Van. Sugar Rush was swamped like no one's business, all the characters switching costumes and burning flour and playing that damn theme song over and over. He weakly dropped his hand onto his poor abused Mac, making sure it was still there. The room was spinning a bit too much...

Choko made her way over, her hair flashing between green and yellow and blue as she looked for her natural shade of pink-red. "You guys look like you could use some sugar."

"Ugh, anything sticky sweet is too much like soda..." Honey did a cool stretching thing where she popped all the joints in her back. "Let's just go to...where are we going?"

"Mega Man started glitching out a few hours into kiddie hell." Skrillex put his Mac in his backpack and stood up. "It looked pretty bad where I could see."

"Ooh, I've never been around that part of the arcade." Choko finally fixed her coloring and helped Honey to her feet. "The car's out front, let's get going."

Skrillex waved at some of the passing candy castle staff as they stumbled towards the Codemobile, Honey leaning hard on Choko. He felt bad for her; once he sprained his wrist mid-game and it was a foking nightmare. Still, as he slid into the back seat, it was hekka awesome to have people want to play as him, play his songs, so he could deal with snot nosed munchkin devils getting his game's equipment all sticky. He just liked to complain a bit.

* * *

Skrillex whistled at the large expanse below the out-of-reach platform they stood on. All sorts of worlds and battle arena stretched out like planets around the sun, all with tiny little melodies he was mentally composing into one. He snorted—even after hours he was still bringing music into everything—and turned towards Honey. "Is this what your game's overhead map looks like?

"Pretty much; my level's hidden since it's not formatted correctly, but I'd put it by that one...one of the group 7 levels? This game is weird." Honey somehow managed to hook her leg behind her head as easily as flipping her hair. "And I heard that it's not even supposed to be played outside of Asia. You figure we have another pirated game?"

"If that's the problem it'd be a localization issue instead of like the Angel Kids mess." Skrillex played with the delicate cartridge around his neck. "But let's figure out the extent of the damage first, kay?"

"Sure thing." Honey gingerly unhooked her leg and adjusted her weight. "Choko, where's Megaman?"

"Over here!"

The three Codebusters turned and Skrillex was witness to a most enchanting moment. Megaman spawned himself in their little overhead, and Choko's bright brown eyes widened with the first taste of young love. Immediately she sighed and nearly melted into a puddle of chocolate and adolescent goo. Skrillex tugged on Honey's ponytail to keep her from laughing, and he memorized the exact shade of cherry blossom pink Choko flushed. This was too perfect. "Nice to meet you, Megaman."

"Pleasure's all mine." He grinned and completely missed the little giggle Choko fought to hold back. "Anyway, let me show you where the glitch is; Dr. Light checked and it's not a localization error like we thought."

Skrillex logged that in the back of his mind and made sure to listen for any irregularities in the soundtrack. It was pretty amazing how much the music of a game could show what kind of error was screwing up the code, half the time he just wanted to remix and unmix and dig into the heart of the chords—

Something knocked him into the air and FOK he was tired of being a cosmic chew toy! Before he hit the edge of the stage's scenery and blacked out, he heard something go amiss in the mix of yelling and shock and hit detection.

_'We're certainly going to have fun tonight.'_

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey caught Skrillex's body and cursed when the sudden movement made pain twist deep in her thigh. By Chaos, she was going to chase down that fanboy who thought it a grand idea to use her all freaking day and wring his little neck! She set down the slight statured music master and turned towards Megaman. "Was that the glitch?"

"Sometimes we get attacked by invisible...whatever the heck that thing was. It got to the point that the final boss is unbeatable!" Megaman whipped around and fired his cannon at the air, hitting something before it could smash into Choko. "Be careful, Little Miss, these things are two-hit killers."

Choko squeaked and hid behind Megaman, making Honey bite down hard on her tongue. Oh, this was worse than Tails' crush on Princess Peach! She mentally shook herself; now was not the time for shipping. "We gotta beat the circuit we're on before we can access the code well and fix the damage. How unbeatable was that boss?"

"Even with two players we couldn't destroy all the invisible attackers."

"Well, we have two more." Honey cracked her knuckles. "I've been having a bad day, I need to let loose a little steam."

Megaman flashed a thumbs up and scooped a blushing Choko onto his back. "I'll lead us through a tunnel we built for moving between stages during active game play. Let's get going!"

Honey scooped Skrillex up like the Disney Princess he should've been, and chased after Megaman. The air around them whipped harshly as invisible daggers and disks aimed for their throats, but they were no match against Megaman's bionic legs and her hard earned muscle. Sonic would be proud, she was sure of it, and she leapt over a low-ranged attack. "So how tough are these things?"

"It depends. Sometimes it only takes one charged blast, sometimes it can take up to ten." Megaman shifted to allow Choko a better grip. "The size changes too; the biggest ones take the most damage."

"It just keeps getting better and better, huh?" One disk about the size of a Chaos Emerald nicked her side and Honey hissed. "Too bad this isn't my game, otherwise I'd smash them all in with my bare hands."

Skrillex jolted as something hit him upside the head and blurted out "Coordination!" before going limp. Honey smirked. "The princess has spoken, Megaman. This is Mega Man: Power Battle, no?"

They arrived at the second half of the final stage, where an unwilling Dr. Wily was being backed by an unseen number of ghost blocks. Choko leapt down from Megaman's back and pulled out a bunch of pocky sticks as if they were daggers. Honey went into her battle pose, Skrillex was blinking back into consciousness, and Megaman gave them all a huge white grin. "Then let's battle!"

* * *

Honey jumped onto what felt like a spinning platform and punched an incoming brick headed towards her head. Flipping backwards, she slammed her heels into the scenery wall and propelled herself forward, the wings on her dress folding outwards. Copying Knuckles, she span like a drill and decimated the platform, Chaos thrumming in her veins. "How you guys all doing?"

"Never better!" Choko was some sort of kunoichi with her pocky daggers. She had changed her outfit to include peanut brittle geta, and by the looks of it, they were sharper than steel and twice as hardy. She took down a series of invisible disks and Megaman praised her, making her blush as deeply as her hair. Ah, battlefield love, it was as sweet as any candypunk based attack.

"Aim for Dr. Wily! The extra attacks seem to be coming from his center of gravity!" Skrillex was a flash of black darting through the chaos, using his Action Replay to make the sound effects of the invisible attacks more prominent. "Megaman, can you blast away some of the robot please?"

"No problem!" Megaman charged up a blast and Honey blinked as it took out countless flying bricks as well as pieces of Dr. Wily's machine. Suddenly she could see why Choko was so smitten; as a power-orientated girl, that was most impressive. "Dr. Wily, can you move towards a corner?"

The giant robot cracked open as Dr. Wily flew out and hovered by the edge of the stage. Megaman made loop de loops on spinning platforms as Skrillex and Choko doubled back away from a barrage of flying invisible spikes, and Honey slammed onto the ground. "Sonny! What the hell are we up against!"

"We need to destroy Dr. Wily! These things have the same sound effects as his attacks—they're spawning off him and all the other enemies in the game!" Skrillex hit the floor as more spike wheels skimmed over his body, dragging Choko down before invisible hands could smack her face off. "If we don't eliminate the source, we'll be stuck here until we're unplugged!"

"Screw this noise!" Honey leapt onto Dr. Wily's head and started pounding on his robot's arms. "I did not deal with the birthday party from hell to die because of another enemy spawn error!"

"Honey look out!"

Honey was suddenly flying high in the air, being combo crushed by a flurry of attacks. She could feel her health deplete and hit the ground hard on her Chaos-damned  _leg_  before everything went black.

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

Skrillex-kun screamed and nearly teleported himself to her side, pressing his hands around the bone jutting out of Honey-chan's thigh. "We need to finish this NOW!"

Megaman-sama charged into the fray, blasting everything in sight with no regard to his health. Choko made sure to shadow his moves, moving her arms as gracefully as his, matching his strong steps towards the enemy robot. Dr. Wily-sensei forced himself to stay still as Megaman blasted away at his armor, yelling out where his weak spots where. Choko flipped backwards onto a flying platform, her geta scratching into the surface and causing it to falter. Pulling out more pocky, she threw them towards the angry noises below, closing her eyes to focus on the sound effects.

She could hear the whirl of her platform, the whooshing followed by blips that signaled the invisible attacks, the creaking of the metal robot, Megaman-sama's powerful bursts of energy that made her hands sweat and her stomach jolt...she could hear Honey-chan's blood pump slower as Skrillex-kun forced his Action Replay to buzz and fizzle around her leg.

Choko opened her eyes and jumped.

She slammed down hard in a somersault onto Dr. Wily-sensei's compartment, the whole robot exploding into a thousand candy colored bursts. Megaman-sama quickly did away with the rest of the invisible enemies, the angry glitches phasing away into nothing. They all stood still for one quiet moment before rushing to Honey-chan, Skrillex-kun throwing Honey-chan's Action Replay at their faces. "Just take it and get to the code!"

Megaman-sama caught the cartridge before it could shatter on the ground, and led her to the game's code well before they could be savaged by any more enemies or daggers or platforms or whatever. Choko fought down a giddy sigh as his powerful arms heaved up the monstrous plate hiding the NES controller. A quick Konami code and they were in the darkness, Choko grabbing onto his hand to keep herself from floating away, of course. "Tell me what we have to do."

"ええと (Eeto)...we need to find the e-enemy code..." Choko cursed herself. Of all the times to speak like a tongue twisting sour patch brat, it had to be right now! "Just follow me..."

She quietly marveled at how helpful and polite Megaman-sama was; instead of charging forward into his own code he respectfully followed her lead, his bright blue eyes illuminated by the code, detangling any reaching cords that snagged onto her obi...why oh  _why_  did she have to be programmed to be too young for real love but old enough to feel this rush?!

"This is the code, right?"

They floated in front of a madly fizzing and crackling series of boxes, the enemy code swelling with invisible clones. Choko directed Megaman-sama to connect the Action Replay into one of the code boxes, the menu already directing them to reset the values on the generation data. "Wow, this is powerful. Why do you think it's glitching now, Little Miss?"

Choko was proud of herself for not squealing. "Today was a very traffic i-intensive rush, and sometimes with games w-with established problems—you said you're game h-had localization issues?—too much gameplay can upset t-the code." Choko fiddled with her modifier, tracking down an error in the game's graphics engine; that explained why they were invisible. "It's not t-too much of an issue..."

"Well, I wouldn't say that, Little Miss. I hope your friend Honey is going to be alright." Oh, he was so cute when he was concerned over the well being of her maimed ally! Choko wondered if her game's code could be altered to boost up the Sugar Rush racers' ages, just a little. Surely Swizz-kun and Lemonetta-chan could understand her plight!

"Sonny-kun won't let anything b-bad happen to her." There; the code was now patched and functioning normally.

"Ah, are they..."

Choko giggled. "No, but they're good friends, like brother and sister. They just like to fight a lot."

Megaman-sama grinned. "I know people like that. Sometimes my sister Roll and I get into such stupid arguments." He stretched and あら (ara), he was so strong... "I wish that I could have someone though, you know? Not that anyone's interested in a regular guy like me."

Choko blamed her frustrated scream on getting her hair bun caught into her Action Replay.

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

Vanellope swung her legs under her throne as King Candy wrapped up the meeting with the heads of candy. Their design of Parliament was coming along smoothly, almost ready for general elections by the people, and Vanellope smirked to herself. She had the democracy of a President and the grace of a Queen, all wrapped up in a fun size portion; Mirror-Vanellope would be proud. Nodding to King Candy, she left the main discussion room to sneak back towards her own reception hall. King Candy was pretty much her grandfather, all ready to spoil her and cater to her every whim, such as bailing out of the meeting early to check on her Codebusters.

Honey had broken the leg she was messing with earlier, and according to Dr. Mario was out until the next Codebusting round. When she had left, Vanellope's ears were ringing from Honey's very angry and very unchild-friendly swearing; the girl may have been named for Honey but she could be as sour as Sour Apple from time to time.

She slipped through the door to find Honey pouting on a marshmallow recliner, Skrillex braiding her long black hair into a very intricate Dutch crown with various accents and dangling braids. Choko was helping him weave ribbons and bows into the mix, and Vanellope laughed. "Having fun, my number 1 Codebusters?"

"Honey's trying too hard to be upset for having a few days off even though she knows it'll be good for her." Skrillex grinned even as she made a swipe for his plugs. "Besides, now she has more time to gossip and daydream about boys, like all girls do."

"Hey, not all girls are so coquettish, Sonny-kun."

Skrillex and Honey exchanged a glance, and Vanellope knew Choko was in for it.

"Oh Megaman-sama, your biceps are  _so_  strong!"

"Oh Megaman-sama, it's  _so_  wonderful watching you blow up all these enemies!"

"How old are you again, Megaman-sama? Surely a robot such as yourself can appreciate the  _love_  from a young girl's heart!"

"I'm the oldest out of the racers Megaman-sama, I'm 12 and eight months!"

"Marry me!~"

* * *

King Candy glanced towards the gold glazed doors and chuckled to himself. It did his heart good to hear his little Queen Vanny laugh so hard after all these years, especially when she was laughing with her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kunoichi: a female ninja
> 
> geta: Japanese wooden clogs. They kinda look like flip flops with little stilts.
> 
> sensei: how you address teachers, doctors, and people with mastery in some art or skill. As Dr. Wily is a scientist, polite Choko is polite.
> 
> ええと (Eeto): another way of saying "Uhh..."
> 
> あら (ara): supposedly "oh my goodness". I hate using Google Translate instead of my own knowledge, so I'll have to get back to you on this.
> 
> Poor Choko! That awkward stage between childhood and full-blown adolescence is killer when you have a crush on someone older XD
> 
> The glitch here is adapted from a glitch I once saw on a video. There, spinning spike platforms were flying out towards Megaman, and the player was supposed to jump on these platforms to get to the enemy. However, they were invisible and attacked like crazy; the person playing apparently took hours to beat the boss. I turned that into pieces of enemy attacks (daggers, platforms, ambiguous blocks) being invisible and spawned like crazy until the enemy that they're being spawned from is destroyed, as seen with Dr. Wily.
> 
> Mega Man: The Power Battle was only released in Japan as Rockman: The Power Battle, but since Mr. Litwak has a knack for getting imported games in his arcade, he has an illegally localized cabinet. And because his age in the game is ambiguous, Megaman here is based off of his Megaman X sprite, in which his age is in his late teens to early twenties. Sorry Choko, but you're a little too young for him.
> 
> Leg injuries are no laughing matter. Keep yourself healthy!


	7. Crazy Taxi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Crazy Taxi and eat Nutella.

**Honey's POV**

* * *

There was nothing sweeter than the ability to walk without pain.

It was a horrible way to go on vacation, having her leg snapped in half with only her wonky regeneration cycles to fix it, but Honey figured it was a battle of wills and patience that she eventually won. Besides, her Sonic was so sweet and caring the past few days, always checking up on her between fights and running down to Tappers to get her root beer floats.

And now she was cleared for Codebuster duty, her first night back set with a mission to Crazy Taxi. Sonic the Fighters had a really crappy view of the arcade, being mostly blocked off by Sugar Rush and Hero's Duty, so she was kinda excited to go about the arcade and actually see what all these gamers are into nowadays It certainly beat being a statue for 11 Chaos-damned years.

Waving bye to Sonic—he walked her to the Sugar Rush port, what a gentleman!—she skipped into one of the nifty go karts and sped down the cord, her new and improved leg jumping up and down. Choko had suggested getting Fix-It Felix to fix it with his hammer, but her code was still shaky after years of being a broken block of pixels; 'fixing' may end up deleting her leg!

Parking at the mouth of the giant candy mountain, fighting down a small urge to see if she could actually eat the scenery, she peered down to see Choko and Skrillex zooming up the sour patch rainbow bridge. They were both grinning brighter than a handful of rings, and she felt a small burst of friendship-flavored warmth in her belly. "Honey-chan, you're here!"

"Like a run-of-the-mill total bone fracture could get me down." Honey struck a fighting pose, Choko giggling into the sleeve of her pink kimono. "Now I'm back and better than before."

"As much as it's painful to say it...we missed ya, Honey." Skrillex flashed a genuine smile, lit up by the screen of his laptop. "Ready to go?"

"Heck yes I am!" Honey jumped into the back seat and flipped Skrillex's undercut—the punk was keeping up with the beauty regimen Queen Vanellope set up, his hair was just fabulous!—before settling back into the marshmallow seat. She had missed this car way too much. "So Skrillex, this Crazy Taxi's game by your end of the arcade, right?"

"Yeah, there was some real weird stuff happening from what I could see. Flying pixel-pigs and whatnot."

"I see. Isn't that game a racing game?"

"Nah, but it has a car though."

Honey could feel the sudden spike of giddy anticipation burst out of Choko's small frame. "What do they do in there?"

"From what Joel told me, you drive around shuttling annoying taxi...people, until your timer runs out."

"Do you get points for driving fast?"

"Oh yeah. Driving fast, driving off road, driving on the sidewalk...it's called Crazy Taxi for a reason."

"Ah, I see. Just checking..."

Honey grinned as they rocketed through GCS, various people on break diving out of the way as Choko shifted gears. Honey winked to the Surge Protector as Choko bypassed the Crazy Taxi's cord transport and made static burn against the Codemobile's undercarriage. Apparently Honey wasn't the only one excited for their newest mission.

* * *

Honey lifted an eyebrow at the chaos in the streets. Cars were flying through the air, the wall boundaries were shifting to trap unlucky pedestrians, and the taxi was halfway sunken into the ground, the taxi avatars furious yelling at them to fix it. "So Skrilly, have any idea what the hell is happening?"

"This is a legit SEGA game as far at the soundtrack is telling me, so the anti-piracy trigger hasn't been set off. Choko, you have any idea?"

Choko kicked the side of the taxi's wheel, and watched the car sink fully into the ground. "On bad days in Sugar Rush, sometimes the racers get stuck in the walls or end up glitching in the air. But once the arcade closes down it goes back to normal...besides, we can't fix whatever's wrong if the taxi is stuck in the ground."

One of the taxi drivers came forward, eyeing the Codemobile. "Not necessarily." She looked back at the others, nodded, and grinned. "The taxi's just a special agent that's allowed to execute the gameplay. If, say, one of your Action Replay things could locally alter the code of your car to make it act like an agent, you're set to go."

Choko blinked, then turned towards Skrillex and Honey. "Are we allowed to do that?"

"Allow me." Honey cracked her knuckles and unhooked her ID tag, changing it into the Action Replay cartridge. Slapping it down on the hood, she closed her eyes and focused on the golden code flickering below her palm. It was one thing to glitch things back to their normal set—on her break she honed her glitching skills to fix code objects in her own game without an Action Replay—but this...this required knowledge of altering the function of an object. Just like changing a dummied out joke character into a fully functional fighter...Honey grinned as the code of the Codemobile aligned with the Crazy Taxi's data, growing larger with longer rows of seats and a little fondant T hood ornament. "I think it worked. How do we find out?"

Choko started the engine and a menu screen appeared over their heads, tracking their time and money gained. Skrillex whistled and hopped into the Codemobile, flashing a thumbs up at the taxi drivers. "Stay away from the buildings, they eat people. We'll be back once we fix the game."

"Right on, little man. Does your friend need a tutorial on how to play?"

Choko pulled in Honey to sit in the middle—darn, Skrillex called shotgun—and grinned manically before driving headlong into a client with a green money sign over his...little space aura. Honey blinked and turned towards Skrillex, who was fiddling with the car's radio to sync up with Crazy Taxi's soundtrack. "Sonny, I think we broke Choko."

"Meh; sanity is for fools anyway."

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

Skrillex shoved his backpack down between his legs as Choko launched their car into the air. The guy they were ferrying to the cable car stop could give a damn about running over pedestrians as long as they "were safe". Choko knocked a cable car out of their way, making a bunch of people scream—their screams were hilarious, he needed to stop hanging out with Joel—and then they were airborne again, earning tips for their work. They made the stop with 35 seconds to spare, earning $700 for their trouble.

700 foking dollars after a clear case of reckless driving and endangerment. Honey shared his incredulous double take at their counter, then held onto each other as Choko crashed through what appeared to be a hotdog stand to get their next client. Skrillex was mildly surprised that SEGA got the rights to say "Pizza Hut" in their game, but what did he know about copyrights and realism in games.

He gripped his stomach as Choko swerved through oncoming traffic. They were getting mad tips for an already wonderful fare, but holy crap, he should not have stuffed his face back at Queen Van's place. He focused on the music coming out of the chocolate speakers...wow, SEGA even got The Offspring? Nice.

With the wind flowing through his hair and the palm trees up against the blue sky, it accessed programmed nostalgic feelings. Apparently, he was born and raised in California, which SEGA was known to base their good games off of. Fixing his glasses, Skrillex said screw it after Choko drove off a ramp to land at their destination, and sang along to the soundtrack.

Honey was looking at him like he was crazy, but she was just too proud to admit that this was pretty fun. Crazy, but a thousand times than the TRON disaster.

As Choko picked up a new customer, Skrillex noticed that his speech and the music started skipping to the beat of the walls flexing their boundaries. Huh, he didn't expect lag to be an issue screwing up the game, but it made sense. In such a high-intensity driving game that encouraged Choko and the gamers to drive through obstacles for maximum profit, one moment of slowness could trip the car and stick them inside a wall.

"Choko, the lag's killing the game!"

"I know, I can feel the car fighting with the game's engine!" Choko shifted gears and drove off the road to get to the park, brown eyes narrowed with manic concentration. "We gotta smooth out the flow, otherwise we're going to get stuck ourselves and run out the timer."

"I can fix that!" Once the client jumped out of the car Honey started fiddling with her Action Replay, casting Choko an aside glance. "Technically, if we stop now we can say we won the game."

"And get an F grade?" Choko giggled, and Skrillex wondered how someone so adorable could made his adrenaline run. "Oh Honey-chan, we're better than that. Much better."

Honey paused, then shrugged, her fingers raising golden static. "Drive to your heart's content. I'll keep the lag from sucking us out of the road."

Choko squealed then raced backwards through pedestrians into another customer; once again copyrights were nothing in the face of SEGA. "Sonny-kun, do you have a map? I need the fastest way to KFC and the arrow's not giving me a good reading..."

Skrillex opened his laptop and accessed the code of Crazy Taxi, finding the tracks. "Ok...to KFC...ok, just loop past the 10 and keep going right. The left is a sinkhole of pin turns and we don't have time for that."

"On it!" While Choko managed to drive on only half her wheels to make the correct turn, Skrillex pondered the Californian dialect. Joel would've said that Choko should go past I-10, dropping the "the" and adding back the "I". But that just sounded hella retarded...

"It's cuz you're from both Northern and Southern California and he's Canadian and Canadians are weird." Honey nodded sagely from her seat, and Skrillex conceded that Honey had her intelligent moments. Only sometimes. "I didn't know you could sing so nicely."

"My programmer was really into making me just like the real Skrillex guy." Skrillex head banged as Choko drove up a mountainside to get to church as a few cars glitched in the air, singing along to the radio. "What about you Honey, what's in your programming?"

"Well, I was based off of this Fighting Vipers character named Honey. SEGA thought it would've been cool to add me into Sonic the Fighters, seeing how my game's engine is pretty much a copy of Fighting Vipers, but AI never really made it in there."

"Ah, bummer." Choko drove further up the mountain to get back onto a road and asked for his map. She looked at it then nodded and drove through incoming traffic again. "The important part is that you're here and not in that bus." Said bus was in the throes of super lag, tearing itself apart as the game engine slowed down and caused it to lose control of its determined path and go crazy into a wall.

"It's the little things...hey Choko, where are we going?"

"Shortcut!" Choko drove off the helipad station and onto the freeway, rocking out to the song that was on. Huh, Skrillex didn't peg the little J-POP fan to like harder punk; it made his heart warm to know that even little candy brats could appreciate 90s music.

"Choko."

Their car slammed through a moving truck and Skrillex forced the truck to glitch out with his Action Replay.

"What are you doing."

Their client tipped them heartily for sliding in between three oil tankers without crashing and dying.

"Choko."

The pint sized driver grinned and sped up.

"STAPH."

The Codetaxi did a flying spin off the road, Honey screaming about Chaos and super modes and crazy little girls. Skrillex didn't scream but cheered as they landed and sped off in the opposite direction, crashing through more unfortunate fruit stands to get to the baseball stadium.

"Honey, it's best not to question the driver..."

"Sonny, I just healed my broken leg. I do NOT want to be put back in Dr. Mario's office cuz Choko drives like a crack head!"

Skrillex turned up the volume. Really, they had over two grand in the bank and 74 seconds on the clock. They were doing just fine.

* * *

Skrillex hated lag. He hated, hated,  _hated_  lag.

In his game it turned his songs into a foking mess with note detection going ni ni and any combos going straight out the window. In Honey's game it froze up the characters and let the CPU get cheap shots. In Choko's game it turned Story Mode into an ordeal of rubber banding bosses beating out the avatar just because their wheels decided to get stuck in the ground.

In Crazy Taxi, it made cars glitch into each other as their paths crossed and weren't updated.

Choko grinded the wall next to the R. B. station as Honey punched cars out of their trunk, the client glitching and tipping them every half second. That part Skrillex was ok with—money's money, no matter how it's earned—but by the power of Havok Physics, how the heck were these cars getting stuck in their undercarriage?

They only earned a Normal payout due to being three seconds over Speedy, but Choko took it in stride and drove through a wall to get to a new client. Skrillex threw up his hands; now Choko was asking for it. "Babychild, you need to drive with respect to the—"

"I don't care!" She drove under the scenery and gunned the engine, everyone screaming as they glitched through the game. "The engine's lagging, the boundaries are shifting because the game's too busy path finding that it's forgetting to cycle through the scenery, and I'm tired of getting beaten off the roads because the AI wants to go all Magic School Bus on me!  _I'm_  driving and _I_  say we're making up new gameplay, so  _you_  just keep the soundtrack moving, ok?"

Skrillex sank back in his seat and whistled as they made it to their stop with time to spare. "You're the racer, you're the boss."

Choko giggled. "Why thank you, Sony-kun. Now let's get some more money~!"

Honey laughed loudly, shaking her head. "Isn't she adorable?"

"Sweeter than Nutella—speaking of which, did you know that the first ingredient's sugar?"

"No way, I thought it was hazelnuts!"

"Nope, first sugar then palm oil then hazelnuts and cocoa. I feel lied to, but it's freaking delicious..."

Choko drove down a steep incline, avoiding the curving roads for a direct path of madness. Honey, keeping one hand on the dashboard to ensure that the car, didn't lag, turned back to talk to their client. "So how is your day going, sir?"

"Let's move it!"

"Well, that's nice."

Choko plowed through a sidewalk full of people, their screams making Skrillex and Honey giggle as their client told Choko to watch the road. As if his pre-recorded phrases had any idea of the majesty of Choko's insane driving.

Honey settled into the seat as they made a quick stop at the mall and sped off into another customer. "I bet you three pennies that Choko will breach the $30,000 mark before we finally time out."

Skrillex shook his head. "At the rate she's going, make it $50,000."

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

As she pulled into the Sky Bank, Choko gave herself a little fist pump.

She was a queen of the race track, anyone who had played Sugar Rush new that. As the penultimate boss and the only Japanese character, she was the developer's little way of bringing some kick ass East Asian style into the foreign arcade scene. She was quick and dirty and covered in chocolate: she was Choko Pockystix, the best darn racer Crazy Taxi will ever get to see.

Ok, maybe that was a little arrogant of her. But she didn't even need the map now, she knew the track by feel, by the shortcuts and the holes in the wall boundary. Picking up people glitching under the ocean? No problem, happens all the time. Need to transverse three kilometers in ten seconds because the timer lagged out? She could get there in five.

She shifted gears and drove through the bank, Honey keeping the Codetaxi from glitching out and getting stuck on a wall. Sure, she was kinda sorta technically cheating, but it was a crazy world they drove in; she had to keep that meter running and the money flowing, a never ending bakery of madness and mania.

Choko picked up a redheaded woman and sped onto the highway, smirking as the woman tipped her handsomely for drifting through five lagging cars. This game was _fun_  when it was broken, the laws of socialization and rationality and physics able to bend to her whim. She wondered if Sugar Rush could be made to act like this after hours. Vanellope-heika admitted once that her battle against the evil virus was kinda fun in hindsight, in a morbid way.

Quickly drifting around a gridlock of frozen cars, she launched herself into the air and up over the track, sliding across the boundary like it was melted chocolate. Skrillex-kun and Honey-chan were talking about the pros and cons of Nutella frosting next to her, and it was a valid argument. Perhaps she could experiment with her flavors...

Yet another oil tanker got stuck her her back wheels and Choko sighed. How was she supposed to beat the game if the game wouldn't let her drive? Stupid AI, trying to path find its way through the only working avatar...

She dropped off her last customer by the starting point of the game and baked as the final three seconds—really, she could get so much done but Honey-chan was looking a little sick—clocked out. They were transported to the results screen, her cheerful smile in the place of the female driver's picture.

"I made $61,098.54! 159 customers, Crazy class, 1st ranking... 素晴らしい (Subarashii)!"

Skrillex-kun and Honey-chan were laughing really hard; must be the excitement of completely wrecking the scoreboard for future generations of gamers to come. They shall all come to fear her name... "Let's put in our initials! C...H...S, by age of course."

Honey-chan ruffled her hair—minding the pocky stick pin of course, they were rather delicate—and turned towards the Crazy Taxi avatars, who were cheering wildly. "Now that's settled, where's the code well of the game? We gotta unclutter your game engine's code if you want any chance of beating Choko's score."

"I doubt anyone's coming anywhere close to that!"

Choko blushed. They were too sweet.

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

Vanellope spread the Nutella on her cinnamon swirl bread, Nilla taking notes at her side. Skrillex was sagely correcting the Nutella rationing of her fellow racers; Bubblebetty put on too much and Adorabeezle too little. The entire cast of Sugar Rush was at this info-gathering tea part, Honey opening the tightest of Nutella jars.

"My Lady, it appears as if Rancis Fluggerbutter has attempted to fix flugger oil with Nutella." Nilla pushed up the licorice glasses on her nose. "We may have to take him to the infirmary for sugar overdosing treatment."

"See to it that he's good to go for tomorrow's race. He's been planning to get into the Racer Roster all week and missing out tomorrow will make him throw a little diaper baby tantrum."

"Of course." Vanellope liked Nilla, she was very dependable in a world of sugar rushing brats. Granted, Vanellope was the Queen of sugar rushing brats, but that gave her a little leeway to poke fun at others.

She took a bite out of her bread and sweet mother of monkey milk that was good. "Sonny, where did you learn about this?"

Skrillex nodded for Marzipanne to add a bit more to her cookie, before shaking his head. "Lemme tell you Queen Van, the guys back at DJ Hero 2 are a bunch of closet sugar addicts. They would go crazy if they ever came here..."

Vanellope shared a glance with King Candy and giggled, rubbing her hands together. It wasn't fair just to pick on Skrillex and Honey and Ralph, surely she should spread the wealth with the rest of the arcade.

* * *

"WHAT IS THIS MYSTICAL WONDERLAND?"

"Ok Suri, you've never been to Sugar Rush before, just let the sugar soak in a bit—"

"DUDE IS THAT A RIVER OF TAFFY?!"

"Fro, don't do it, you'll regret it—"

"I MUST BECOME ONE WITH THE COLA MOUNTAIN."

"Joel, step away from the mountain, it'll burn—"

"THERE'S A FOUNTAIN OF PIXIE STICKS!"

"Pixie, remember your New Year's resolution—"

"OHJESUSTHEFLOOR!"

"...Queen Van, can I get a un-stickifier or something? Half the DJs fell into that molten pit of melted lollipop goo, and they're unhappy about that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 素晴らしい (Subarashii)!: awesome!
> 
> Havok Physics designed the physics engine of DJ Hero 2. Suri/DJ Surikizu, Fro/Fro Train, Joel/deadmau5, and Pixie/Pixie Dust are all characters from DJ Hero 2, and let's face it, how would you react if you went into Sugar Rush?
> 
> Let's recap about Crazy Taxi: it's a game where the only thing keeping you from driving through the scenery to get to your destinations on time are the wall boundaries. Because that game is so erratic—it encourages you to be as violent and manic as possible in your driving—its engine would have a hella hard time keeping both the avatar taxi cab and the computer AI cars on the road and functioning. As the day goes on, more and more code gets cluttered in the engine as little glitches and bugs take their toll. Usually, once the arcade closes the engine has time to go through its uncluttering cycle and keep itself running without lag. But something happened during gameplay, and the engine didn't go through its cycle. Cue ultra lag launching cars and getting people stuck in vibrating walls; this happened to me once and I abused the glitch like Choko did.
> 
> Her high score is based off of the high score in the Gameworks (ironically enough, owned by SEGA) by my house. Seriously, it must've taken that gamer an hour to rack up so much cash.
> 
> Nutella is delicious but so bad for you. Use it sparingly.
> 
> Skrillex pointed out interesting differences between California English and the rest of the world English. In SoCal, we call the Interstate 10 freeway "the 10". In NorCal, they call it "10". Everyone else calls it "I-10/Interstate 10". That's just a weird thing I've noticed going between states. Also, NorCal people say hella; in real life Skrillex lived in both parts of California, and says hella As a SoCal girl, that's weird XD


	8. Dance Dance Revolution X2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to DDR X2 and break into song.

**Choko's POV**

* * *

Choko yawned and stretched her arms up over her head, arching her back like a banana. Sugar Rush had a nice rush of gamers at the arcade today, people still marveling over the added content in their console. To be fair, they were probably the only Sugar Rush Speedway outside of Japan to have a story mode, so Choko figured someone had spread the news. Mr. Litwak-sama's arcade in general seemed to be getting a lot more business ever since Vanellope-heika altered the game data; it was nice to imagine that Sugar Rush did something sweet for the arcade.

Choko shook her head to clear her thoughts—it was best to stay humble about any feelings of popularity, lest you end up like Turbo—and turned towards Honey-chan and Skrillex-kun, who were bouncing on giant gumdrops. "Having fun?"

"You bet! For a racing game made around my time, you have really good graphics." Honey-chan did a double front flip off the gumdrop and landed in the Codemobile, tightening one of her pigtails. "Makes me jealous for having such rigid polygons."

"Oh, Mr. Litwak-sama's nephew came around...2010 I believe it was, and he gave our game a graphics update. I don't remember too well, seeing that technically I didn't exist until last year."

"Yeah, that was when he added me to DJ Hero 2." Skrillex-kun lightly hopped off the gumdrop and started brushing at the sugar crystals stuck to his back. "He comes around when he's not in college and keeps the games nice and shiny to compete with new stuff like Hero's Duty. I think Sonic the Fighters is due for an update..."

"Yay! Maybe now I won't look so jagged in-game." Honey-chan helped clear Skrillex-kun of the sugar crystals, and tapped her bottom lip. "Emi, one of the girls from DDR, was visiting Amy a few days ago and was talking about her game needing something updated, I forget."

"Speaking of which, that's where we're going today." Choko hopped into the kart and turned on the engine, waving to a passing Minty-chan. "From what I saw between races, it looked pretty bad—Mr. Litwak-sama put them out of order! But I heard him say that worst case scenario he'll just call down his nephew, so they're not in danger of being unplugged yet..."

"That's good; DDR consoles aren't doing so well and ever since Arcade Infinity went under a few years back, music-based games as a whole are declining." Skrillex-kun crossed his arms, relaxing back into the seat. "Good thing my console gets both my game's fans and all the old Beatmania fans, otherwise I'd be in a very bad place."

"Same here; I'd freak if I saw a Fighting Vipers anywhere to dilute my gamers." Honey-chan let her fingers dangle as they passed through the cord, playing with the static shifting her pixels. "I also heard that Gameland three cities over went out of business and half their games got picked up by a Dave & Busters across state."

"No way, they were doing so well!"

"Yeah, the Dr. Robot—I mean  _Eggman_ —from M. Sonic's game heard some baseball players talking about it. According to some high school kids, the owner decided to become a monk and sold off all his things, so now Litwak's Arcade is pretty much the last arcade around here. Good thing that Dave & Busters needed more Mario Karts, and some gamer's cousin wants to collect the Q*Bert game, but no one knows about what happened to the rest of the Gameland consoles..."

Choko was quiet as she crossed GCS towards DDR's port. She wasn't around to remember the gradual decline of video arcades, games being taken in by either big chains or collectors. In fact, between all the Asian-exclusive and unusual and out-of-production games she's been seeing, Litwak's Arcade was a safe haven for anything beyond a Street Fighter II. But surely the games at Gameland and Arcade Infinity felt safe before their games were unplugged—Arcade Infinity was the cornerstone of Southern California! Now they were scattered across the state to a Dave & Buster's or a Gameworks or a Chuck E. Cheese or...or a grocery store if they were lucky! Otherwise...Choko hoped that the gamer's cousin was serious.

Pulling up to the DDR transport, Choko clenched her fists. She had just started to live, she didn't want to get unplugged due to something so sad as money running dry. So next to keeping Sugar Rush nice and popular—screw being modest, lives were on the line!—she needed to keep the last DDR machine off Route 83 from being unplugged, bringing down her arcade, her home, and scattering the friends and life she had just gained. "You guys ready?"

"Yeah, I think I got all the sugar crystals.."

"Wait, you missed a spot."

"My face!"

Choko laughed and hopped into the train waiting at the station. No, she didn't want to be split up from these characters, even if they were mixed with extra nuts.

* * *

The second they walked in Skrillex-kun swore. That was never a good sign for anything.

Three seconds later a bunch of strobe lights around the club scene of DDR went wild, blinding them and making Choko's code frazzled.

Five seconds after that, the catchy J-Pop music playing glitched, and Choko swore she was back in a virus-ruined Sugar Rush, unable to speak or breathe...

The music cut off as Yuni-san came forward, her eyes wild with fear. "Oh crap, are you guys ok?"

Honey-chan pulled Choko to her feet, Skrillex-kun held up around her shoulders. "We've had worse, but nothing like that. What's happening in here?"

"It's a nightmare, nothing's playing right and the visuals are going crazy because the music controls the game, and that's just the simple stuff." Yuni-san threw her arms up, glaring at the disco ball swirling in the ceiling. "Every time a gamer would fail a stage because  _hello_ , we're having a meltdown here, someone would get trapped in that song! Like...the arrows and the stage track would suck us into the data and we were completely stuck. A total game over would sometimes send people back, but now half the cast is stuck in this...this..." Yuni-san sighed, anger lost. "This isn't some oni glitch the player brought on, this is something I've never seen before."

Skrillex-kun stood up and walked into the center of the dance club, where a DDR dance pad was mounted. He pulled out his headphones and slipped them on, listened for a bit to something Choko couldn't hear, before shaking his head. "There's five songs playing behind the mute you put on. I can imagine that this cluster"—oh look, an adult world—"of a music playing error made the stage layout falter in its rhythm-tracking program and start pulling in the stage data of the other songs, making a glitched out junk level that your friends are stuck in. Do you know which songs they might be in?"

Yuni-san nodded, pulling up the music list from a giant hologram screen. Choko was impressed with the interior of the game; there wasn't a need for a hologram screen in Sugar Rush but it would be nice to have one. "Eight songs, if you count Dark Rinon who is more of an event than a character. So..."

Honey-chan stepped up to the dance pad, the soft blue and pink lights illuminating her ID tag. "Eight songs to beat. I'm pretty fast with my footwork, and Choko's a little J-Pop fiend, and Sonny's the greatest rhythm tracker of all time. I think we can do it...if we stay on easy mode, of course."

Yuni-san summoned two more dance pads, and Choko hopped on, watching the music list narrow to the ones containing the trapped avatars. She recognized a few of the songs—Tobikomi had a good relationship with Konami—and grinned, waving to the small crowd of surviving dancers. How bad could it possibly be?

* * *

**Round Robin POV**

* * *

"Left! Left!"

"Choko, you gotta keep the quarter notes down, the step pattern is based off of 'You are a Star' on easy mode. Just ignore the triplets, those are garbage data."

"What the heck? Those arrows are going off the screen!"

"Ignore them, they're a bunch of liars...just what in the world is this song supposed to be anyway? I'm picking up a lot of garbage static..."

"Sounds like Kimono Princess...sort of...not really..."

"...wait, I don't have three legs! How do I hit those all at the same time?"

"Quick, lemme...just...there!"

"Honey-chan, get back on your pad! You're missing all your arrows!"

"I'm screwed over already, you're the one we gotta keep alive."

"Ok, the song layers are falling apart so I guess the stage is almost over. Honey, get back on your pad."

"!"

"Honey-chan, are you ok?"

"..ouch."

"Aaaand that's it, no more arrows!"

"I still have some...did we fail?"

"Looks like we got a...D. We got a D."

"何？(Nani)? That's  _horrible_!"

"Doesn't matter, we saved Emi. Onto the next song!"

* * *

Honey bounced on the tips of her toes, resisting the urge to grab onto the bar behind her. It was just too distracting to even breathe, trying to pick out arrows to stomp on. By this point she was pretty sure her shoes were on fire, or at least melting. Wiping swear off her forehead, she doubled down on the eighth notes and thanked Amy for helping her with her footwork. A few arrows decided to make pinwheels across the screen, and how in the name of Chaos was she supposed to figure that out?

Deciding that it couldn't possibly hurt to see how her fellow Codebusters were doing, she glanced at Choko and nearly fell off the pad and died.

She was flopping on her pad like a fish, randomly hitting the pressure sensors.

Honey choked on her laughter as tears ran down her face, finally grabbing onto that stupid bar. Skrillex ended up saving their butts and Alice, but by Chaos, why didn't she have a camera on her?

* * *

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...you know, between the really girly singing and the messed up instrumentals and that Rena girl flailing in the background...it sounds like the Powerpuff Girls theme."

"...Sonny, I love that you know what that is."

* * *

Skrillex dropped to the floor in a hand plant, counting off the beat in his head. It was like a glitchy Guitar Hero, nothing he hadn't fixed before becoming a Codebuster. Just as long as he kept his head in the game and didn't dare look at Honey doing the can-can, he was going to pull through and save the guy currently being mauled to death by killer arrows in the background and everything was going to be fine and...

...

...just what the heck was playing underneath Sakura Sunset? Was that...that was  _Speed over Beethoven_? But...but that song wasn't even a part of the game!

Something in his brain snapped and he crashed down on all fours in a rage, beating the pressure sensors like a pair of bongos. How dare this twisted bastard of a glitch play songs that it wasn't supposed to! What was the point of an exclusive soundtrack if at the drop of a hat, the program goes fok it, let's play some dummied out songs?! Did they not care, did they not  _think_  that some upset DDR Extreme fan would try and screw with the game and create crossed over music data that would crash the machine? Any DJ off the grid could tell you to never get rid of a fan favorite in favor of some crappy licensed song by Vanilla Ice!

Skrillex snapped out of it when the results screen gave them a B and freed Julio. Standing up and primly adjusting his undercut, he ignored the horrified starting of Choko and the raging hysteria hiding behind Honey's tight-lipped smile. Everyone had their moments and the guy was saved so he didn't get why it was a big deal, he was totally justified!

* * *

"And left! And right! And double step!"

"This sounds like a little like LOVE SHINE, Suri loves this song..."

"KEEP IT UP!"

"What the heck was that?"

"It seems as if we've saved the announcer."

"Well, that's a good—leg cramp!"

"Oh jeez oh jeez, Choko just try and—"

"Choko!"

"Can someone stretch out that leg and get her back on the pad? She's dying out here!"

"Ok Honey, we gotta pick up the slack or we'll fail the stage."

"These stupid electric arrow row things are making me so upset."

"You're telling me, there's too many—"

"OH NO, TOO BAD!"

"Wait, what is—"

"OUTSTANDING! KEEP IT UP! AMAZING!"

"That announcer is distracting me! Skrilly—"

"THE CROWD IS CHEERING!"

"No, they're fixing Choko! At least be factual when you're BREAKING MY CONCENTRATION, ok?"

"100 COMBO!"

"Who has a—"

"OH NO!"

"Yuni, turn him off!"

"We can't, not until the stage is finished and we save Bonnie!"

"200 COMBO!"

"...I hate you."

* * *

Choko held her arms out to keep her balance, holding her breath as a very difficult cluster of arrows came up on her side of the screen. Seriously, she had no idea what kind of person could dance nonstop without missing a single arrow. Maybe all those "perfect attack" gamers were androids, or mirror match people.

Nearly slipping to keep her dance meter out of the red, Choko looked down to see the chocolate sole of her shoe melt off and slide very sadly off the dance pad. Sniffling, she mourned for her beloved shoe, then steeled her reserve; she could save her precious shoe, but Gus-san needed her to keep dancing! Changing her malleable shoes into unrelenting peanut brittle geta, she shook a fist at the screen and stomped extra hard on the dance pad.

Later, when they had gained their inadequate ranking and saved Gus-san, she helped Emi-san wipe down the dance pad. It was rude to leave a mess, after all.

* * *

"...wait, I know this song!"

"Which one, the screeching one or the scratching one, or the—"

"Not those ones, the good one! It's Butterfly!"

"Oh, I love that song! I thought they took it out!"

"Nope, I guess it's in here, or at least enough of it was dummied out to be kept in the data."

"...I've been searching for a man~"

"Are you guys seriously doing this?"

"All across Japan~"

"I guess you are."

"Just to find my, find my samurai~"

"Wait, singing helps pick out which arrows match..."

"Someone who is strong~"

"And we have to save Baby-Lon..."

"But still a little shy~"

"...and where else are we going to have a reason to break out into song?"

"Yes I need, I need my samurai~"

"AI YAI YAI, I'M YOUR LITTLE BUTTERFLY! GREEN, BLACK AND BLUE, MAKE THE COLORS IN THE SKY~"

* * *

Honey smirked as her dance meter glowed in rainbow colors, her pigtails smacking against her back. Deciding to be cheeky, she pivoted around on a left step, flashing Skrillex a grin as he did a shuffling move to catch a handful of rogue arrows. Choko, feeling left out, dropped in a split kick, holding it as the freed dancers cheered them on. And that began the madness.

Honey held her arms out like a prima ballerina as she span and pivoted, even dancing backwards. Hair swirled around in ribbons, the red C on her back a blur as she worked the dance pad like a skate rink.

Skrillex was less flamboyant in his turns, but he was entirely fluid in his shuffling, feet barely leaving the floor unless he hit the deck to kick out. His glasses flew off his face but he caught them causally with a wrist flick, one with the music.

And Choko was something else entirely. Half disco dancer, half belly flopper, she utilized the quick movements of her short limbs to compensate for the large dance pad, resulting in half-cartwheels and arrows caught with the tip of her finger.

By the time they finished the stage, Yuni-san and the rest of the avatars were cheering wildly, the announcer cutting back in to gush in awe. Rinon broke out of the twisted stage as they were rewarded with an AAA score.

Choko stood up to catch her breath, before asking merrily, "So did we win?"

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

In the darkness of the code well, it was usually difficult to pick out problems. Back when he was a lone ranger, Skrillex would spend days combing through DJ Hero 2 to try and find the subtle sparkling glitches that impacted his game's performance.

Not so much with DDR.

At the center of the game's code was a giant spitting mess of leaking data and twisted cables, making gut fill with unease. This was a bit more than he was expecting, even with the music abuse upstairs.

Grabbing onto Honey and Choko's wrists, he swam down into the fray and shoved character code boxes out of the way, sparing them from being corrupted by a free line. Honey quickly started pulling apart the crudest of tangles, Choko diving into the heart of the pink and blue matter. "Ok, make sure to be gentle with separating level data and stage programming. They are very interconnected with these kinds of games and too hard of a break will dummy out the content."

"You have experience with this?" Honey had to use her teeth to convince a glitching data connection that no, mixing two stage designs was a bad idea.

"Like Queen Van said at the beginning of our grand adventures, I'm the guy keeping Guitar Hero and DJ Hero 2 functioning. DDR may be from a different producer, but it's all the same kind of animal." Fok, he chipped his nail polish on a code box. He needed to ask that Sour Appleblossom kid where she got such pretty colors.

"...ok, I have this clump cleared. What about music data?"

"For now keep it where it is unless you really need to disconnect it. We need to match arrow spread layouts to the correct songs, otherwise we have Butterfly playing over Pluto the First's arrows."

"Seriously,  _screw_ that song! It's never ok to have the arrows pause randomly!"

"皆さん (Mina-san), I found the heart of the problem!"

Skrillex followed Choko's voice to find two code boxes fused together, glowing a malevolent yellow. Two innocent boxes holding the level loading engine and the music memory; separate they made this console of Dance Dance Revolution X2 incredible, but fused together due to years of little glitches adding onto frustrated gamers pounding on the dance deck..."Choko, leave that mess to me. Help Choko sort out which levels go with which songs after I separate this beast..."

He slid into the gap Choko left and plugged his Action Replay into the cancerous growth sticking out of the boxes. Many of the codes were useless for what he needed, but at the bottom of the list was his favorite tool of choice: the Jaws of Life, perfect for emergency code repair.

Grabbing onto the tool, he angled the cutter right above the glitching code boxes, and with a battle cry slammed it downwards. Code splashed and spattered around his face like burning oil as he tore away at the glitch, half-blinded by the angry colors bursting out of the broken code boxes. Turning away to spit out a mouthful of goopy static, he inhaled and dove in deeper, relentless in his pursuit for justice. This was for the avatars stuck in a jacked-up nightmare. This was for every DDR game going unplayed due to Konami saturating the market. This was for every arcade going under due to overhead costs overpowering the declining stream of arcade players. This was for Mr. Litwak's nephew, who gave him life and friends to enjoy it with.

And this... _this_  was for half-adding songs and not letting the fans enjoy the music!

He broke through the glitch and an explosion of junk data blasted him into the lifeblood of DDR, held up by programming cords as the two code boxes reset themselves to their normal states. Choko and Honey were cheering, and he exhaled. That went better than expected.

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

Vanellope watched Sour Apple showcase a large collection of nail polish to Skrillex, who was in turn offering some of his eyeliner back in his raccoon-eyed emo princess days. Vanellope had tagged Skrillex as a little pretty boy—he was way prettier than Ralph, and it didn't help that he was only a little bit taller than Felix—but she was impressed at how committed he was.

Then Taffyta showed up with her mascara bounty, and Rancis with his famous flugger oil, and Pollipop with her carbonated face cleansers, and suddenly every racer with a secret stash of pretty-making products came out of the candy cane wood work to set up shop in her castle's courtyard. Choko, after fixing her favorite shoes, dove into the fray with her hard biscuit pumice stones, and Vanellope laughed as Honey started haggling with Bubblebetty over her scented bubble bath.

King Candy came onto the balcony with her and sputtered about unsanctioned markets and permits and the need to regulate the trade of gold foil candy coins. Vanellope then asserted that as Queen of Sugar Rush she was establishing a local market every time someone wants to have one, as no one else would really object to that, and he patted her head and and agreed that it was a marvelous idea.

Smiling primly, she watched Marzipanne explain to the others how to properly use a quadruple wanded curling flat iron by using Skrillex and Lemonetta as her guinea pigs. She really loved being Queen of these psycho candy babies sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oni glitch: present in DDR Extreme, this was done deliberately by gamers to access dummied out oni/challenge levels for songs that did not have an oni/challenge difficulty level. As the DDR in Litwak's Arcade is DDR X2, I couldn't use this glitch.
> 
> 何？ (Nani)?: What?
> 
> 皆さん (Mina-san): everyone
> 
> And that's their adventure in DDR X2/Dance Dance Revolution X2 (I hope everyone knows what my acronyms are...)
> 
> As discussed in this chapter, a lot of arcades and arcade games are suffering, especially in the musical dance/rhythm genre, which is why Skrillex and Yuni are concerned about it. Honestly, in this day and age (as stated by Choko, they are now in 2013), arcade characters should be well aware of their situation, and eventual end in a Dave & Busters (going strong, best option), Gameworks (many places have gone out of business...), Chuck E Cheese (probably good, but undesirable with their customer base), grocery store (lowest of the low), or collector's home (cut off from their friends). Litwak's Arcade is a lot like the James Games by my old school: dependable customer base, imported games, and going strong after so many years. So to all the Mr. Litwaks out there, please don't go out of business; as much as I love the Disneyland arcade after WiR came out, it will probably go out of style and Disney will lock up their consoles again.
> 
> So onto DDR: in that game, you dance to the arrows laid out to the music. Simple enough...except the two are dependent on each other. Put one arrow layout on another song and you have a nightmare track where nothing syncs up. Now mix five songs and five stages together and play them at once...I get nervous thinking about it. This glitch was caused by little arrow trips and glitches adding up like a cancerous growth, unchecked by the game's normally functioning code-cleaning program. DDR machines also suffer a lot of percussion damage from kids stomping too hard and hitting the display monitors, making the glitch worse. Then when some kid, thinking that DDR X2 was DDR Extreme (2), got upset that some fan favorite songs like Butterfly were taken off and smacked around the machine, the glitch growth got bigger and bigger until it fused the music and level data together into a real mess of a glitch, sucking in dance avatars and probably attacking them with deceptively painful arrows that were let loose by the glitch.
> 
> The Round Robin POV involving dialogue-only can be interpreted as anyone's POV, even Yuni's. Otherwise it's more obvious who's in control.
> 
> Why yes, I love Butterfly and it's my favorite DDR dance track. Why do you ask.


	9. Tekken Tag Tournament 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and get repeatedly interrupted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *crawls out covered in paper cuts and coffee stains* 
> 
> Remember how I promised to update once I got back to college? Well, college decided to DROP THE BASS and murder me with so much work and exams and finals that any inspiration left over for fanfiction had to go on a back burner. Then I had to move back home, go back to permanent babysitting/kittysitting duty, look for a job and study for my CRP/AED/First Aid certificate. Not to mention I've been on the most extreme and obsessive Iron Man 3/Avengers bender. Seriously, I created about five fanfic ideas and an entirely unique universe because freaking Robert Downey Jr. is my lord and savior, and he and Mark Ruffalo are so fabulous and Science Bromantic and perfect, and if I have anymore Pepperony feels I'm going to open my own pizza place.
> 
> ...but I digress. I watched WiR again today, ate a powdered donut, and I have a game I want to explore. Sorry to keep you all waiting!
> 
> Heads up: LOTS of Japanese dialogue here. Instead of weighing everything down with gratuitous Japanese to phonetic romaji to translated English, I'm just gonna write what they're saying. Sorry Choko-chan, but there's a limit to your language gimmick. 
> 
> Disclaimers: Disney owns Sugar Rush, SEGA owns Sonic the Fighters, Acitivision owns DJ Hero 2 (but not a console port), and Namco Bandai owns the Tekken franchise, of which I adore.

**Choko's POV**

* * *

Choko swung her legs under the bottle cap bar stool, patiently waiting for her vanilla-lime soda-cool whip soda float. Pollipop-chan had dominated the races today, and as a show of good will, she invited all the Sugar Rush racers and outside friends to her private soda fountain to indulge in carbonated chaos. Sour Apple-chan, for example, was holding up the line for her suicide cream soda, and Choko idly wondered how long it would take her to crash from the monstrosity's sugar content.

Vanellope-heika was hanging off of Ralph-san's shoulders, ranting about how it wasn't fair that she could have a double shot of root beer in Sugar Rush and not Tapper's. Ralph-san was trying very hard not to laugh—Vanellope-heika wasn't the most...composed after consuming large amounts of sugar—and Choko giggled as her sovereign racer made herself comfy on his head.

Honey-chan and Lemonetta-chan were having a very deep conversation about something called "friend zoning", Minty-chan and Jubileena-chan were comparing hair styling tips with Skrillex-kun, and Choko relaxed; life was good.

So when Sour Bill-san led a teenage school girl in pigtails dragging her injured robot friend through the doors, Choko merely motioned for Pollipop-chan to put her order on hold; she never went through a cycle of idle animations for a reason. "Are you here for soda or Codebusting, Miss?"

"[My friend and I need your help!]"

Choko blinked as everyone turned towards her for guidance. Oh, right, she was the only conscious Japanese speaker in the house. "[How can I help you?]"

The pink haired robot girl raised tired green eyes. "[Please forgive us for interrupting, but our friends are trying to kill us.]". She smiled before her head fell off, and everyone started running around like headless chickens; Vanellope-heika had to use her patented "I'm the Presidential Queen and you will all listen to me" voice King Candy had been helping her out with before Swizzle-kun stopped firing unicorn pop guns at everything that moved.

"Choko, you and the Codebusters fix whatever game issue they're having. Peggy Pigtails, please pick up your friend's head, it's blinking at me. Ralph, let me down; I'm not a little diaper baby who needs a bottle. And Miss Fizzy, get everyone a double shot on me. We all just need some sugar to calm down."

* * *

It turned out that "Peggy Pigtails" was a Ling Xiaoyu-san (or just Xiao-san, as she preferred) from Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and as part of their game's linguistic gimmick, could only squeal in Japanese lifted from a sappy 少女の漫画 (shoujo no manga). Choko liked her; anyone who both knew her native language and could carry around her friend's sentient head without a pause was good in her book.

Skrillex-kun straightened his glasses as Choko drove them to Xiao-san's game. "So what are we going up against?"

"Judging from the damage dealt to Ms. Detachable Head, I'm guessing the something went way past wrong with the battle AI." Honey-chan was fiddling with the back of the robot's—Alisa-san, according to Xiao-san—head, and sighed. "Once, back when I was a pixel stick, all the functioning mirror images in my game spilled out and started going crazy. My Sonic and Dr. Robotnik managed to fix them before they went Turbo. Then again, mirror images are a different breed of fighter..."

"That reminds me: do you guys actually get injured during normal game play?" The memory of Honey-chan breaking her leg sat heavily over their code busting minds for a moment.

"Not when the proper code sequences run. Otherwise we'd actually get hit damage, and I don't care how hard your head is; there wouldn't be a fighting game running after three hours of abuse."

Xiao-san blushed and tugged on a pigtail, "[My friend Jin is very stubborn. I think he would last for three hours.]"

Choko giggled with Alisa-san then translated for her friends, Skrillex-kun and Honey-chan sharing a significant glance. Waving to the Surge Protector, she sped through the cord leading to Tekken Tag 2. Her friends could make eyebrows at each other all day; she and Xiao-chan were well versed in the tragedies of head strong friends who crashed through games without concern for their squishy bodies.

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey looked up from her character roster sheet to see a very large black demon thing maul a panda. The panda proceeded to tackle the demon into a snooty blonde girl, who flipped her internal coffee table and beat the pixels out of them. Blinking slowly, she stepped away from the free for all, grabbing onto Choko's small shoulder. "Ok, Alisa wasn't lying: everyone is trying to kill everyone. I have a few ideas why but we need to beat a level before we can get to the code well."

Skrillex was being antagonized by the more Amazon-y fighters, and Honey felt for him; the poor bastard was 5'4" in the tallest of games, and here he was a pitiful 4'3". "Skrill, don't look them in the eye. They see that as a challenge."

He blushed fiercely, his bright red nose contrasting against his hair."But if I don't look at their faces, my direct line of sight—"

Skrillex didn't finish before one of the more Russian-y Amazons punted him into a wall. Groaning in frustration, she balled up her sheet and threw it at Xiaoyu's too bubbly head. Why the flipping Chaos did this game have over 50 characters? What, were these young whippersnappers too afraid to leave the fighting academy without their entire class before going into a game? Back in her day, you only needed 9 on the roster to have a good time, and she wasn't even around for it!

Yelling in inarticulate rage, she judo flipped a charging Bruce Lee wannabe into a wall, triggering a loud bell. "Wait, what did I just do?"

Xiaoyu bounced over to her, clapping her hands. While Honey knew Japanese better than say, Emo Princess, Choko helpfully translated the Chinese(?) girl's rambling into "The game just recognized you as a special challenger! Now you can fight!"

Honey cracked her knuckles as the sea of rabid-AI fighters stopped thrashing and turned towards her like a bad horror movie. "Well, I guess I'm in for the tournament. How many do I have to fight before I can get to the code well?"

"Hmm, if we play arcade mode on one round matches and the extra fighters don't interfere, and Alisa-chan and someone else as our backup in case we get too broken...about nine stages." She spared a glance towards Skrillex and Choko, and Honey stifled a giggle. "Perhaps...Choko-chan could pair well with Alisa-chan?"

"Fine by me." Skrillex wiped clean his glasses, sniffing past a crooked nose. "But does that mean I'm on crowd control?"

"Come on Mr. Screamo, you know all about pandering to a group of overly aggressive and emotionally constipated pretty folk in funny costumes." Honey pinched his cheek and fixed his nose with a spurt of pixels, then turned towards a grinning Xiaoyu. "Sooo, you gonna fight in your day clothes? Because my other outfit has wings, and you look like a flying fan."

* * *

Honey didn't wake up expecting to fight outside of her game. Much less with a hyperactive battle queen, whose orange qipao was much more war fashion friendly and had enthusiasm that could put Amy to shame. But then again, it beat listening to Bear and Bean gripe about how nobody took them seriously anymore.

Alisa and Honey were cheering in a strange queue area that sprung up, protected from the growling, jerking horde of zombie fighters that wanted a piece of honey-dipped Honey. Well, they were free to look/death glare, but touching/trying to claw out her eyes with freaky chakra devil claws was an entirely different beast.

First up was Kazuya/Angry Asian Bad Boy #3 and Anna/Owes Sonny a New Nose, and ho boy, they were salivating with the chance to murderize them. Honey was on the tag partner position off stage and counted down before the match began with clenched fists; this was going to get ugly.

Kazuya lurched forward but Xiaoyu executed a folding fan-palm to the pectorals combo that knocked him into the boundary. Ok, Honey liked this girl a whole bunch. Jumping up quickly, Xiaoyu kick flipped off his face before he could grab her ankle, kicking out his shins before he could switch with Anna. Hard back-facing punches to the brunette had her flying up in the air, and a satisfying low kick avenged Skrillex's nose.

Then Anna roared and turned purple, picking up Xiaoyu and throwing her against their side of the boundary. Her health plummeted and Honey tagged herself in, yelling in code because that was total BS, where did this psycho power-up even come from?! Honey flew directly into Anna's pelvis, knocking them into the center of the stage. Anna didn't have the benefits of mercy invincibility, so Honey elected to fly-spam the psycho out of her.

She managed to roll out of her hit box and punched Honey square in the nose, and holy crap that stung. Stupid poisonous purple aura of doom. Subconsciously tapping into the old Amy fight data in her file banks, she bootie bopped Anna into the boundary, and a shower of rings exploded for a double hit. Huh. Flexing her back muscles, Honey charged into Anna and another, slightly smaller shower of rings fell from nowhere to bring Anna's health down.

Honey tilted her head back and laughed maniacally. The game gave her special abilities! Oh, this was too good. Winking at a cheering Alisa and Choko, Honey went to town on Anna, using some of Xiaoyu's back-kicking and Knuckles' I'm-gonna-wreck-your-face punches to her advantage. Oh yes, she was so cheating but Anna had her freaky out of bounds purple glow and screw the rules, she had lots of rings!

Anna managed to tag herself out with Bad Boy Wonder, and Honey remembered why Xiaoyu and Alisa came in the first place. He didn't pull the punch that darn near cratered her face in, kicking the Chaos out of her gut like she was a soccer ball piñata.

Refusing to be KO'ed in the first round, Honey kicked him into the air, and Xiaoyu introduced her to the beauty of Tekken Tag Tournament 2. She jumped in to complete the combo Honey was setting up, and they switched off between up slams and kidney kicks until he hit the ground and didn't bounce back up. They cheered and high fived, Xiaoyu more or less trash talking to poor suckers in Japanese.

The obviously purple glow exploded out of Kazuya and Anna in an obviously evil plume, absorbing back into the waiting masses. Then the two started flopping around on the ground like fishes; they were yelling for someone to tell them why exactly they couldn't stop flapping on the ground, so Honey figured this wasn't a normal game mechanic. "Umm, next round?"

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

Skrillex loved angry crowds he could turn into wicked crowds thrashing to his personal mix of dubstep and Transformer death metal. So when he hacked into the soundtrack for the stage music and decided to practice his DJing skills, he took most of the credit for turning the killbot zombies into dancing killbot zombies.

Over the demon death din of "Kill Everybody"—hey, it was incredibly appropriate—Choko unceremoniously dumped two fishtailing fighters behind his booth, washing her sugar sticky hands clean of their shenanigans. The woman who punched his nose apologized profusely for her unsportsmanlike conduct, and he gave her a free pass because it wasn't her fault that she was a former killbot and she was hot as ever loving hell.

He couldn't figure out how to keep them from glitching, chalking it up o the weird purple virus upsetting their animation cycles. Shrugging, she gently pushed them into a corner and put the music on auto, letting the killbots dance themselves docile and watching Honey and Xiaoyu beat the crap out of them.

Skrillex admitted that Honey was in the zone. No broken legs or falling into bottomless pits here: she and her partner managed to infinite combo the Stage 3 fighter into a perfect KO. More and more former killbots flopped apologetically in a sad little corner, but Skrillex frowned as more fighters kept breaking into the stage to prolong the ass-kicking. Choko and Alisa tried to keep them from screwing up the roster rotation, but Skrillex shook his head; music couldn't soothe the savage killbot zombie beast of that stupid purple virus could manipulate the arcade mode.

On what was "Stage 5" but was totally Stage 9, Honey and Xiaoyu fought against a pretty Asian boy and what appeared to be the badass demon version of him. In that round Xiaoyu got the crap kicked out of her; from his viewpoint it looked like she was pulling her punches. Honey managed to high kick them to oblivion, but he knew a reluctant heroine when he was one.

They flopped their way to his booth, and Skrillex pulled the pretty boy aside; his demon pal was too busy shouting the lyrics to Cinema, and he didn't wanna break his concentration. "Nice to meet you, knuckle duster. My name's Sonny; what's yours?"

"...Jin." Oh good Betamax, this just got better and better.

"Let's talk in private Jin, the crowd's just a bit too loud for this venue." It was true; Devil Jin took over the music with an androgynous blonde fighter, and the wild energy from "Bangarang" was entertaining the killbot zombies. Below the stage he brought into existence—thank Honey for teaching him the wonderful world of abusing Action Replays—he pushed Jin onto a recliner, taking up space on a stock folding chair. "Impressive fighting moves, how much do you gotta train to leverage teenage girls into boundary walls?"

"I had to master the Mishima style of karate to defeat my father, grandfather and great-grandfather in order to stop myself from turning into a Demon—"

"That's currently making a new name for himself as a DJ"

"—and avenge my mother, who was taken from me by Ogre—"

"I think she's starting a mosh pit in front of the battle stage"

"—and I've told Xiaoyu to stay away before I hurt her, so it's not my fault if she—"

Skrillex hit him on the head with his roster sheet, stopping Jin's melodramatic life story from really taking off. He narrowed his eyes and rubbed his head, mumbling, "Or that's what the game writers said. Personally, I just like training with Hwoarang and Nina and—"

"Xiaoyu?" Jin stiffened as much as he could without having control over his movements, and Skrillex wrote down a note on the back of his roster. "Let's focus on her. You do know she almost let you and your wild side kick her perky bubble butt to the loser's circle, right?"

"Yes, well—"

"Such a sweet girl, and super pretty." Skrillex grinned as Jin's already agonized face grew even more emo, and examined his fingernails. Fok, he needed more red apple pie nail polish from Sour Apple. "I'm more appreciative of blondes myself, but she's built like a mini-brick—"

"DON'T YOU SPEAK OF HER WITH SUCH LEWD WORDS!"

Skrillex wrote down another note. "Oh, so you do care about her? I couldn't see that during the battle or after. She sure does care though, enough to not fight back when you were compromised."

Jin looked like he was having a heart attack, battling against the pre-programmed personality that he took way too much to heart. But if Ralph could become a hero in his own right, then Jin could work his way out of his emotional constipation. "I...between my overbearing mother and my jerk of a grandfather I don't want her around and she's so colorful and bright and lively and she just lights up the room and Hwoarang already threatened to shave my head if I didn't...but..." He managed to gesture at himself as he flipped about in the air. "Why would she ever want me?"

Skrillex sighed, slowly shaking his head. "Did you hear her calling for you after Honey kicked your butt?"

"...yes?"

"Does she always call after you after you fight?"

"...yes."

"Alright, now I need you to imagine her standing right next to us. What is she doing?"

"...calling out...to me—"

"If you can hear her now, why don't you recall that she was one who cared after all?"

Jin had half a moment to appreciate his super epic wisdom before the crowd upstairs exploded. The androgynous blonde from before beat their door down, yelling loudly, "They made it to the boss stage!"

Jin grumbled about mothers and cheesy dubstep and Skrillex tucked his roster sheet away. Better go spread his wisdom to the rest of the plebes.

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

The stage transformed into a beautiful water lily garden, steam rising up to obscure the tall, dark 美女 (bijo) smiling serenely at Honey-chan and Xiao-chan. Her eyes glowed a dangerous purple, and with the smile still on her face, she literally kicked the two into submission.

Alisa-chan grabbed onto Choko's hand. "[If they KO, we'll have to go in for them!]"

"[Don't worry, Alisa-chan, Honey-chan is too proud to let anyone best her in battle.]"

Honey-chan then proceeded to fly into the woman's stomach, Xiao-chan tag in and out repeatedly to kick the 美女 (bijo) harder and harder into the ground before she finally KO'ed. "[Yes, my friend Xiao-san is also very...tenacious.]"

Honey-chan and Xiao-chan held hands and jumped in tandem, laughing like Minty-chan and Sour Apple-chan after a good race. "[Tenacious is a very good word.]"

The woman was on her hands and knees in the water, panting harshly. Then the purple in her eyes began to spread into the stage, warping the water lily garden into a poisonous nightmare as the 美女 (bijo) turned into a 鬼女 (kijo), laughing and snarling like a power mad villainess...

Like a power mad boss sequence, glitching into the chaos that Honey-chan often swore by.

The new woman, "Unknown", started off by kicking Xiao-chan into the murky sludge, the purple ink ticking to her body and gluing her to the ground so Unknown could spam-kick her to death. Honey-chan tagged herself in and righteously pelvis-slammed Unknown into the murk herself, although the laughing woman didn't get stuck. So unfair, it was like racing against Vanellope-heika on boss mode.

Unknown pinned Honey-chan down into the murk and began kicking her to death, howling with laughter the entire time like the banshees that ghosted Gloyd-kun's track. Her friends' health hit zero and Alisa-chan grabbed onto her elbow. "[Are you ready, Choko-san?]"

Xiao-chan spit out a tooth. "[At least I have that down to an art.]"

They jumped into the murky water as the game gonged with Choko's arrival. The flailing fighters beyond the stage cheering them on, and Choko changed into her peanut brittle geta. Between Unknown not wearing real clothing and the way leather soles tended to sink into sludge, she needed all the advantage she could get.

Choko wanted to set something straight. She has never been, and probably never will be, a good fighter. But while her speed in Sugar Rush came from racing, she was programmed with very quick feet, and Unknown moved slowly in her self-made purple quagmire.

Alisa-chan hip kicked Unknown to the ground and threw her head at her, adding an explosive burst to her attack. Choko mentally added explosive cookie biscuits to her list of kart updates. Quickly tagging in, Choko tripped Unknown and tagged out, playing run-rings-around-the-rusty until Alisa-chan managed to bring Unknown's health down to 50%. Then the creature growled and threw Alisa-chan against the boundary with a tidal wave of poison, and that wasn't really nice.

Choko jumped back into the mess and kicked Unknown's shin, scratching damage onto her indecent living wetsuit. She howled and really, why did all these fighting game bosses howl and groan like Rancis-kun with a stomach ache. And what did she have to complain about? Oh, her glitchy attempt at world rageification isn't going to well? At least she didn't have to deal with a group of angry pocky people arguing over localization cameos, or Taffyta-chan bossing everyone from Vanellope-heika to Ralph-san, or Marzipanne-chan launching her car into the roof of the castle and wondering why Sour Bill-san was so annoyed! Really, between Sugar Rush and the squishy retards on her team Choko got so frustrated sometimes, and—why was Alisa-chan giggling?

Looking down, she noticed that Unknown was a sad heap of scratched up goop, her geta innocently dripping with purple. Honey-chan was rolling around on the ground laughing with Xiao-chan, and all the spectating fighters were flopping around with glee instead of faulty character physics.

Blushing, Choko stepped back ready for the stage to end...until Unknown let out a screech so loud Choko could feel the sugar in her bun crystallize. All the muck from the ground swirled up to cover Unknown's body, creating a gigantic vortex of evil glitching power ready to take over the entire arcade. Choko grabbed onto Alisa-chan's hand, preparing herself for the most difficult battle of her life—

A gong sounded as a giant set of stereos crashed down onto Unknown, releasing a large bass rumble that obliterated the purple sludge and triggered the cut scene for Unknown's defeat. Everyone looked up to see Skrillex standing sheepishly on a raised platform. "What can I say, sometimes you really just need to drop the bass."

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

Vanellope slurped her vanilla-mint-chocolate-diet cola concoction as she watched the gentle mayhem in Pollipop's promenade. After the Codebusters reset the Unknown data in Jun Kazama's data, the entire population of over muscled fighters turned back to normal, and proceeded to suffer a severe lack of sugar and electrolytes. Luckily Pollipop had a large stash of Gatorade for her nitro boosts, and all the guys from Tekken Tag Tournament 2 decided to come for a diplomatic visit.

Xiaoyu/Peggy Pigtails in particular was very happy, bouncing along with Alisa/her headless friend and a—sweet mother of monkey milk, was that a giant panda?! Shoving her drink into Sour Apple's greedy little hands, she jumped onto the panda's back, pointing her scepter towards the general unknown. "Onward, Marshmallow Butt!"

The panda bucked her off into Ralph's overly concerned arms, and Vanellope cheered. "Do it again!"

While Ralph and King Candy fussed—jeez, did they think she was made out of rice paper?—she saw Jin Kazama/big fat diaper baby awkwardly try and talk to Peggy Pigtails in a quiet corner, who was blushing redder than a gumball dispenser. They passed Japanese back and forth for a bit, diaper baby looking like he'd eaten way too many moon pies, before Peggy Pigtails more or less glomped the loser and slapped a big fat Hershey's kiss on him.

Everyone froze—the racers thought that kissing beyond cheek kissing was gross and the fighters obviously knew about this little love-fest—before Hwoarang/the guy who just ate his weight in atomic fireballs yelled loudly, "Somebody owes me five bucks!"

Money was exchanged as rapidly as Pollipop's famous third-wheel wintermint smoothies, and Vanellope spotted her Codebusters in the chaos. Choko was sighing wistfully, probably thinking about a blue raspberry boy across the arcade. Honey was collecting money with the robot girl and Leo/the blonde Vanellope was pretty sure was a girl. And Skrillex was smugger than a sour patch snake, very much not making oogaly faces Peggy Pigtails.

Vanellope laughed and tipped Pollipop with a vanilla wafer. Tomorrow was fast approaching, and if anyone was going to survive with their marble cake intact, they needed all the sugar they could get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 少女の漫画 (shoujo no manga): manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10 and 18, often with a strong focus on human and romantic relationships and emotions.
> 
> 美女 (bijo): beautiful woman.
> 
> 鬼女 (kijo): witch/demon. (u c wat I did thar)
> 
> Oh yes, this all just happened. No, I regret nothing.
> 
> Tekken Tournament 2 is basically a fighting game where you beat up people with two characters. Normally you fight with one, but as a tag team game, there's combos where you switch off quickly and add onto each other's moves, do team throws, etc. The final boss of the game is Jun Kazama, mother of the protagonist Jin (who has lots of emotional issues and just needs to stop pushing people away and get together with Xiaoyu -pouts-) who turns into this creepy stripperific villain called Unknown. In the first arcade version released, Unknown isn't a character like Jun. Therefore, that boss sequence in her code messed up, became half-sentient and attacked the AI of the game, making everyone into killbot zombies. In normal game play no one would notice, but after hours...
> 
> Also, the flopping is a reference to another glitch in TTT2. Basically, if you hit a character very precisely (or in this case, exorcise them of a purple glitch virus) they cycle through every animation they have in the game. Look it up, it's kinda funny.
> 
> I've been waiting to drop the bass in the literal sense for so long it's ridiculous. And if you think that's ridiculous, hold onto your hat, because next chapter is a whole new world for the Codebusters ;)
> 
> Loved it? Hated it? Want Pollipop's drink recipes? Then review and let me know how I did :D


	10. Minecraft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Minecraft and Skrillex has an epiphany.

**Choko's POV**

* * *

Choko Pockystix allowed herself to be prideful of a few things. She was a high tier racer and penultimate boss, she was the best candy-based ikebana enthusiast in her class, and she was devoted to her job as a Codebuster.

So when her Action Replay, tucked safely in the lapel of her racing kimono, began to buzz during the day, she didn't react beyond wondering why the Surge Protector was calling her during arcade hours.

That feature was added during the creation of the Action Replays; to grant the Codebusters the clearance to use special skeleton key game modifiers, the Surge had the right to summon them at any time in case a really big glitch occurred. Seeing how the video game characters from the affected games like to call on the code busting business themselves, Choko felt a slow trickle of apprehension make its way down her spine.

Luckily, she wasn't on today's roster, and once their player finished his free-play race, she jumped out of her cart to the reigning racer's side. "Vanellope-heika, the Surge Protector is calling!"

"Oh pixy sticks." Vanellope-heika removed her helmet as she jumped out of her cart. "Call up the other two and get your butt in gear. We can skip you in story mode if need be, but I'll make you do laps in Diet Cola Mountain if you don't hurry back!"

Choko, unsure if her Queen was serious, jumped back into her cart and made her way home for the Codemobile. Double checking that there were no road cops to catch her, she started tapping away on her Action Replay. Skrillex-kun asserted that if Surge could reach them through their cartridges, they should be able to text each other as well. "Choko here. What is everyone's status?"

"In mid of fight. Can has text l8r."

"on standby club. lol thought we didnt do this during day"

"Well, it must be important if I had to be called out of a race. Speaking of which, can you guys leave work early?"

"i can remove myself from roster if needed. lame as hell tho"

"K back. I can get mirror to do fights."

"Well, I'm on my way out of Sugar Rush."

"telling suri i'm bailing. meet u guys there"

"Omw too."

Choko quickly changed into her uniform and headed out in her Codemobile, staying clear of the racers tearing up her level. While it royally sucked to subvert her original purpose, she had a job to do and the Surge Protector was getting antsy with the buzzing. Kicking up static in her titanium-cookie alloy wheels, she braked in the exit port to avoid murdering the Surge Protector's avatar. "What's the problem, sir? Is my team here yet?"

Skrillex-kun and Honey-chan bounded into the loading station, uniforms slightly askew. "Let's get this guys, I have a returning fan coming in today at 5."

The Surge nodded gravely and led them to the base of GCS. "Approximately ten minutes ago, a large group of unknown creatures piled into the main station and tried to game jump during arcade hours. I locked them out of the other ports to keep them from disrupting normal game play, but then they started getting...rowdy."

"Rowdy, what kind of row—"

A large group of strange green block monsters began spilling out of the containment space Surge had been corralling them in. They were eerily silent in the brightly lit station, and Choko backed up towards her cart. "I've never seen people like them before."

Honey-chan cocked her head and poked one in the chest. "They feel like...dry grass? And those faces are super creepy. Sonny, you know any games that would have these for enemies?"

Skrillex-kun didn't answer. He was staring at one with a blank expression, his fingers twitching as if he was elbow deep in code. "Sonny-kun, are you..."

"They're not from an arcade game."

There was a moment of silence

"What?!"

But before Honey-chan could beat the answers out of somebody, one of the monsters exploded. The shockwave knocked Choko into the air over her cart, the Surge enacting a station-wide alarm that cut off the plugs from access. Now they were trapped with the monsters, who were quickly swarming over a still shock-still Skrillex-kun. Honey-chan grabbed his arm before one could detonate in his face, and the two were blasted into an information kiosk.

One of the...the creepers jumped into the Codemobile and Choko dragged herself out of a crater. "Get out of my cart! You are NOT authorized to drive a pocky stick shift!"

The creeper circled around the craters, picking up its buddies as they tried to escape. But the Surge Protector killed the ports to the games, they were trapped and doomed to suffer Honey-chan's wrath. That was, if Choko didn't get there first. "私の車から出て行け！野郎！"(Watashi no karuma kara deteike! Yarou!)

Honey-chan managed to trip up the from wheel of the cart, allowing Choko to jump into the backseat. One of the creepers began to detonate so she kicked it out of her cart, inadvertently destroying the info kiosk in the resulting explosion. "Guys, I need some help here!"

Honey-chan dragged Skrillex-kun in front of the cart, jumping on to the hood when the driving creeper tried to run them over into a fine paste. Punching and scratching for control, the Codebusters didn't notice the Surge screaming at them to stop. A large flash of light blinded them for a moment, allowing the driver to drive off down a dark tunnel towards the unknown.

"Honey-chan! Get the wheel!" Choko was being crushed under the unrelenting creeper swarm, which was pathetic considering they didn't have any arms.

The battle mistress of their group threw a creeper out of the cart, the entire tunnel shaking with its detonation. "Which game are we going into?"

"Hopefully one that's not busy!" Neon lights flashed by in a symphony of color and static, and Choko lost her train of thought. Where were they, it was...it was so beautiful here. Electricity brushed by her face, and it felt like the sugar silk curtains draping her windows back home. "Honey-chan...where are we?"

Her friend stopped fighting to breathe in the static, eyes blown wide as light poured through her mouth to expel golden static out her finger tips. "This isn't any game I've ever been in."

Skrillex-kun was still in shock, hair blowing around his face as the cart surged towards a large white portal. Choko pinched his hand, trying to wake him up, but then there was that bright light and she couldn't see. They were back in GCS, heading towards the first outlet on the left, and Choko weakly punched the driver's seat. "No don't...that's not a game...it's a ski-ball."

They surged up the cord and Honey-chan blinked the static out of her eyes. "Where the hell are you taking us, ugly! Get the hell out of our cart!"

Honey-chan attacked the creepers and they swarmed her, vicious cursed muffled under the sea of crunch green blocks. Choko squeezed her eyes shut—the ski-ball computer was a very cramped place, it was going to get painful—and braced for impact. She frowned when they didn't crash but entered a strange blue place, the cart blasting through a portal before she could figure out where in marzipan-coasted madness they were.

The cart finally entered a large grassy plain, running into a tree and expelling all of its occupants. The creepers jumped around in anger before re-flipping the cart and gunning the engine. Choko screamed in outrage, picking up a block of...wood? it was wood, and throwing it after them. It hit a creeper on the head but they drove off into the distance.

Sighing—they could always make another cart, but she missed her baby—she turned towards Honey-chan and Skrillex-kun, and did a double take. "何ですか？" (Nandesuka).

They were made out of blocks. Looking down, she saw that she had stubby block arms and stubby block legs, her Action Replay missing from her chest. Whirling around in fear, she opened up a submenu to check her inventory, and that was weird, she didn't have a submenu outside of her palette switch costume menu. But that could wait, because her Action Replay was gone. "Honey-chan, they took my Action Replay!"

"Great, just perfect. Come on Princess, Choko's down a cartridge and we have a job to do." Honey-chan tried pinching his cheek but ended up punching him in the face, depleting one of his...hearts? They had hearts. "What the hell is going on. Is this some freaky imported Nintendo console?"

Skrillex-kun sat up. "Beta 1.5_01 (30 fps, 30 chunk updates). C: 451/5408. F: 1063, 0: 0, E:3894. E: 3/219, B: 0, I: 216. P: 0, T: All: 291. ChunkCache: 1024. x: 81.40779807329609. y: 67.00986 z: 1.009084710. Used Memory: 20% (190MB) of 910MB. Allocated memory: 52% (478MB)."

"...what."

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey's eye twitched as Skillex fizzled on the ground, code data pouring out of his mouth like verbal diarrhea. Choko was quietly giving into Chaos on the side, picking up blocks and adding them to her inventory to make up for the loss of her Action Replay. They had inventory screens and hearts and they were made of blocks along with the rest of the world and Honey wanted to go home and rant to Sonic about how crappy her day has been. Speaking of which.."Skillex, if you do not start talking like a person, I will hit you."

"Single Player Commands accessed. Damage now off. /search Codemobile."

She punched him in the nose with all the grace her blocky arm had, and he flashed red briefly before falling on a pig. The pig was wall-eyed and adorable, but it was made of blocks and she hated blocks. "EARTH TO SONNY. What in the name of Chaos Control is going on here?"

He blinked before shrieking, running around in circles. "Oh my god oh my god oh my god we are so screwed the antiviruses are going to find us we need to get—"

She shook him like a rag doll. "WHERE. ARE WE."

"We're in a computer game!" Honey let him fall in shock as he babbled on in hysteria, "I can see all the code, it's in my brain and it's all I can think! They're driving off in a northeast direction, approx. 50,000 blocks away from us, and they're cheating because the person playing Steve? modded the game and I can see everything happening there's a creeper approaching from the cave approx. 200 blocks to our right creeper explosion disable and I think I'm losing it because I can't...I can't..."

Honey hugged him close, blocks sliding together as she tried to keep him from completely going insane. She watched her best friend lose his mind over eleven years, and she'd be damned to a life in slow motion if she let Skrillex fall apart. True to his word, another creeper showed up, but at least this one didn't try blowing them up on contact. "Speak or I'll rebuild you."

"Oh snap, you guys aren't the player, aren't you." His expression didn't change, but his voice spoke volumes of embarrassment. "Ah jeez, you don't even look like him. You should've warned us before the day started if you were game jumping from The Sims..."

Honey froze.  _The Sims?_  The creeper shuffled a little closer. "You guys are from The Sims, right?"

Choko pocketed a dandelion. "I'm from Sugar Rush, my yellow-furred friend is from Sonic the Fighters, and my black-haired friend is from DJ Hero 2. This is assuming we're still in Litwak's Arcade, of course."

The creeper jumped in the air, before exclaiming, "You're arcade game people! I didn't—where did—no where's still in—how did you guys get here?!"

"A group of your creepy friends broke into Game Central Station, stole our cart, drove us through electro-Narnia to here, where my friend is having a breakdown because he was created on a computer and is having a massive overload of CPU information." Skrillex was calmer now, mumbling cheat commands into her shoulder, and Honey patted his blocky head.

"Creepers did this? But who..." He began to shake. "JOE!"

"Please don't explode, it's bad for your eardrums." Now Choko was collecting sand.

The creeper calmed down and sighed, shaking his head. "Oh Herobrine, I am SO sorry about this. Joe and his gang are real bad eggs, they love stealing stuff and throwing it into the Far Lands...hey computer guy? Think you can teleport us to the edge of the world? I'll help you get your stuff back, I know where these guys like to creep."

Skrillex lifted his head, the blank expression back on his face. Everyone instinctively held on to his blocky frame, and as he teleported them out of the plain, Honey wondered when her life got so complicated.

* * *

Blocks rained from the sky as they landed on the ground, and Honey could feel static creeping up her spine to raise non-existent hairs. The land was...broken was the best word. Chunks of earth floated in the sky and she could see through the ground to the sea below. By the power of Chaos, the glitch void she was frozen in didn't look this busted. "Do you see the creeps anywhere, Choko?"

Choko was standing in the opposite direction, eyes wide and unseeing. Honey turned around and NO NO NO NO WRONG IT WAS WRONG IT WAS BROKEN AND CORRUPTED. Honey gasped for air as a swelling sickness froze her stomach, and NO NO DON'T LOOK IT'S FORBIDDEN IT'S WRONG DON'T TOUCH. Skrillex was still in Data-mode, but how could he not see the WRONG IT'S WRONG BROKEN CORRUPTED GLITCH.

Grabbing Choko close—she was only up to her waist now, Skrillex to her shoulder—she turned towards the creeper. "What is...that?"

"Those are the Far Lands, the end of the world." The Creeper managed to shrug without shoulders. "It's disgusting to look at, but players think it's cool and Joe comes here because no one else will. The name's Horatio, by the way. Horatio Ignatius Robert P. Creeper...I just kinda go by Bob."

"Well, Bob, I'm sad we didn't meet under better circumstances." Honey gently shook Choko before leading her towards a ground of pigs on a relatively functioning plot of sand. "Choko's out; last year a virus broke her game and turned it into its own brand of Far Lands. You think she'll be safe here?"

"The dark corners here spawn a lot of mobs, but they'll leave her alone once they see she's not the player." Choko dimly patted one of the pigs. "She'll be fine."

Honey gulped and turned back towards the WRONG BAD BROKEN GLITCH wall of earth, and gripped on to Skrillex's arm. "Let's go get the car back before I start losing it."

With that they walked into an opening and Honey let go of her friend to flail her arms. Bob thankfully let her self soothe in peace, and kept up a merry commentary as they walked through a STOP WHAT ARE YOU DOING GO BACK IT'S BAD WRONG canyon. "This is actually a relatively old version of Minecraft, since the 1.8 update got rid of these...well, these unique geographic features. I think Mr. Litwak's nephew is coming next week to finally bring us up to date—yes, we are still in Litwak's Arcade! We're in the computer, where storage used to be before Mr. Litwak got that storage place a few years back. Joe must've gone through the mainframe to get to your power strip..."

Gravel rained down and Honey wanted to cry. "I've never met an arcade game person before. There's five computers on our strip and five on the other, and we make short jumps between those two, but never out of the actual room. What was it like in the electrical system?"

The memory of the lights took the edge off Honey's mental breakdown. "Beautiful. I've never seen anything like it before. It was right, not WRONG WRONG WRONG—"

"Do you like coffee? Terminal 3 has all the Tycoon games, and Mall Tycoon has coffee shops. Once we get your cart back, we'll go get a cup and calm your nerves before you self destruct. There's lots of games here, I'm surprised neither of the game rooms know about each other, but that's what happens when Surge Protectors don't let inter-electrical travel. Granted, Joe demonstrated why, and...JOE!"

Honey saw the creepers who took the Codemobile and snapped. Before Bob could hope to catch up, she was in the middle of a fight, beating them flashing red until they tried to detonate on her. "Na na na, that's not gonna WORK, butt munchers! Damage is off and you TOOK our car and it's WRONG WRONG WRONG and now you're gonna DIE!"

The leader creeper, Joe, took off into a hole in the wall of the NO DON'T GO IN THERE IT'S BAD AND NO NO NO canyon, his buddies exploding with glee around her. By the time the smoke cleared Joe was gone with the car and Choko's Action Replay again. "Now where is he going?"

"In the Corner Far Lands." Bob calmly waited for Honey to stop twitching. "It's a place where lands are stacked on top of each other, so there's lots of dark places for creepers to creep over there. Luckily, nobody likes Joe because he's a jerk, so let's go smoke him out."

"Light now turned on." Everything was suddenly free of shadow, and Honey patted Skrillex on the shoulder in thanks.

They walked through the hole into a more "normal" looking area even though the roof of Honey's mouth was crawling with disgust, and Bob called out to the large mob of creepers, zombies and skeletons, "Has anyone seen Joe? He stole stuff from outside game people."

"Freaking Joe Spunk!" One of the zombies groaned and tripped as he lagged over a gravel block. "Bastard stole my sister's earrings last week!"

"He blew up my corner of the cave!" A skeleton shot an arrow at a large hole in a wall.

"Joe Spunk glitched a cloud into fogging up the waterhole."

"Joe Spunk steals diamonds from the children's charity."

"Joe Spunk keeps people from respawning by their homes."

"Joe Spunk is a bad baaad man."

Honey screamed and ran into the hole, frothing with rage because Joe Spunk was MEAN and EVIL and WRONG in this WRONG BROKEN CORRUPTED place. She was going to rip his head off and deprogram him with her Action Replay because he was WRONG and needed to be CORRECTED just like she was because she used to be WRONG, she was a GLITCH and for eleven years she was WRONG FROZEN GLITCHED CORRUPTED and the Far Lands and Joe and everything was so WRONG here...

Skrillex tapped her shoulder and she realized that she had Joe in a choke hold, the creeper flashing red and terrified. Mumbling under her breath, she dragged him and the Codemobile—he  _scratched_  the paint, that unbelievable bastard!—out of the hole, past the cheering mob and out of the Corner Far Lands.

Choko was seated upon a throne of diamond, feet resting on a pig as various pigs and zombie...pig men tended to her dim-witted needs. She waved with a distant smile, and Skrillex turned towards Joe. "Superpunch 10000.00," and he tapped Joe on his creepy expression.

Joe flew up into the air and above the Edge Far Lands, exploding far in the distance.

There was silence, before Choko sighed dreamily, "Pomegranates and lavender, a fresh way to start your day; how can the Queen suit your creeper-punching needs?"

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

Tele 1 70 1. They landed softly at the center of the map and lights off. Shadows returned to their natural places and system check running smoothly FOREIGN PRESENCE DETECTED overridden. Honey turned towards him and IP Address: World: AwesomeWorld555 Minecraft Beta 1.5_01. Blocky hands settled on his shoulders and 0001 100 0101 1101 0101 1101 1010 0011. Bob was talking with Choko about whether she could take her pigs home with her and FOREIGN PRESENCE DETECTED overridden run simulation of entity: Pig in environment: SugarRushSpeedwayArcade with regards to code adaption 037A?_0.

They were moving him into the Codemobile and /search Joe Spunk the creeper was dead and not set to respawn until the next day cycle. The seats were heaven against his aching simulation complete entity: Pig compatible with environment: SugarRushSpeedwayArcade with requirement of code tweaking with Action Replay.

Choko was driving faster as they approached the port leading out of Minecraft and FOREIGN PRESENCE DETECTED overridden and Bobby joked that CONNECTION TERMINATED—

* * *

Skrillex jolted as someone placed a sponge on his forehead. Groaning, he resisted the urge to throw up all over the people leaning over him. "Did we get the stupid cart back?"

"Hai, Sonny-kun!" Choko didn't look like a ketamine-head anymore, thank the Muses, and Skrillex relaxed back on to the bench. "In case you were wondering, we're in the power strip outside Terminal 1, where Minecraft is. Computer games are so interesting, with so many games per port instead of one per plug..."

Skrillex let his eyes drift to the left and blinked. Nope, he didn't dream any of that; various Sims and mine sweepers and roller coaster tycoons were milling through the power strip, and his train of thought wasn't interrupted by any computer code. Sighing with relief, he looked up at Honey, who was carding her fingers through his hair. It felt nice. "So how are we getting home again?"

"Bob's looking up a map of the building's electrical system; we don't want to get lost in the hyper-Narnia, now do we?" Honey massaged his aching head and Skrillex reveled in being free of simulations and overriding antiviruses and checking clock cycles. He just wasn't built for computers on that level, despite being born in one...and then he glared because now the free space in his head was bothering him. "What's wrong, Princess? Cat got your tongue?"

"Ooh, don't tell Sonic that." He laughed as she blushed and pulled out his headphones. "By the way Choko, I ran some simulation; as long as you plug in the pigs' codes into Sugar Rush through your Action Replay, they'll repsawn there. Wonderfully adaptive things, those Minecraft pigs..."

Choko squealed and ran around her motley group of pigs, promising to love them and cherish them and only attempt to take over the world on every other Thursday... "Crap! Honey, what time is it?"

"The arcade's closing in three hours, so we can either go back to work or take the day off. You kinda went into robot-mode back there..."

Run simulation of telling Honey that yes, he went into 80% full immersion and yes, it was fun in a horrible-in-hindsight sort of way. Simulation complete. Fok. "Well...you see..."

"I'm back!" Bob held a holo-map and showed them a rather complicated web of tunnels and cords and electrical currents. "Good thing this power strip is closest to the door, otherwise you'd might have gotten lost around this here curve."

"Fabulous. Can we get a coffee to go?" Skrillex wanted a cigarette (/delete nicotine craving) wanted a freaking drink because playing Toby Litwak with his code was giving him a complex. Circling his hands in the air, he imagined ones and zeroes at his fingertips, creating sound and color with the whim of mental code...

"Sonny, I know that you're prolly having an epiphany due to reconnecting to a computer for the first time in over two years. So if you could stop manipulating my avatar, that would be great."

Skrillex blinked; he had changed Honey into her blonde, pink furred version wearing a TRON Siren suit. "Sorry." A flick of his wrist and she was fine again.

"It's all cool, I know the feeling of power that comes from knowledge." She smirked and snapped her fingers, turning his glasses purple. "You should see me in Sonic the Fighters, me and Sonic know the code front and back like nothing else." A crash startled them, and they looked up to see Choko riding a pig out of a port, Bob running behind her with a tray of coffee balanced on his head. "Between us and Choko's magic driving skills, we'll probably reformat the way this arcade runs by next year."

Skrillex grinned, ran a routine to rejuvenate his code, and toasted his Codebusters with his latte. "Then to complete and utter chaos."

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

Vanellope wrung her hands as she paced in front of her cart, her three red pigtails brushing against her face. Choko never came back from whatever the Surge Protector wanted, and the girl was never late to anything; she'd show up to her own execution on time! Pulling at the white fabric of her racing suit, Vanellope debated bailing out to go track down her long-lost racing friend.

The Codebusters then proceeded to blast through on to the race track, way too cheerful for dropping off the grid for half the day. "Losers! Where in this gobstopper earth have you BEEN?!"

Choko laughed and jumped out, leading a large swarm of adorable pigs with her. "Oh Vanellope-heika, the story we have for you!"

* * *

"So if we establish a mailing system between the arcade room and the computer room, we can update each other on gamer trends and possible birthday parties." Vanellope folded her hands daintily on the giant table; she had opened a tea party for all the arcade game heads to meet in, and was doing her part to be a perfectly democratic sovereign.

"Excellent proposal, Queen Vanellope. Clyde, would you be willing to open your Bad-Anon to villains from the computer room?"

"Of course, anyone who is willing is welcome." Clyde did a cycle around his chair. "As the Codebusters were the ones to discover the computer room, they should have the opportunity to take part in the ambassador program..."

The various heads all grunted in agreement, Zangief very enthusiastic about an analogy with sparrow's eggs.

"I'll be sure to tell them once they meet up again for the next arcade crisis. Although, I do know that Skrillex has already taken a friend to the Minecraft game..."

* * *

"Kay Joel, I got us on to a multiplayer server..."

"Wow, this is actually really awesome. Hey, do you think we can get a pig into one of those carts?"

"Anything's possible here, trust me."

"..."

"Hey, your avatar has mouse ears. How neat."

"..."

"Those guys are looking at us funny. Must be jealous... /search deadmau5..."

"..."

"...ok, there's another deadmau5 here Do you think that's the guy you're based on. He's actually coming this way."

"...!"

"Ooooookay, open the chat window. Omg its deadmau5!"

"Get in the FREAKING cart, pig!"

"Where have I heard that before..."

"I know those feels, bro."

"Fn pig."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 私の車から出て行け！野郎！(Watashi no karuma kara deteike! Yarou!): Get out of my car! Bastard!
> 
> 何ですか (Nandesuka) What?
> 
> Oh yes, Litwak's Arcade has a computer room with Minecraft on it, just like the long-lost arcade from my childhood.
> 
> And now the barrier between arcade and computer consoles for this story has been broken; we're going to both!
> 
> As for the "Edge/Corner Far Lands", go look it up and imagine three video games characters with traumatic experiences looking at that cluster of corrupted data. Heck, I even get creeped out looking at them due to my strange phobia of ruptured and damaged materials. Accoridng to the Minecraft wiki: "The hard limit where chunks are overwritten is at X/Z of +/-34,359,738,368, which is about 23% of the distance from the Earth to the Sun. At X/Z of +/-2,147,483,648 (crashes at 2,147,483,439), item positions, mob pathfinding and other things using 32-bit integers will overflow and act strangely, usually resulting in Minecraft crashing. At X/Z of +/-1.798*108^308, the position of the player, represented by a double-precision floating point number, would overflow to 'infinity', causing a complete breakdown of arithmetic." In layman's terms, after a certain point CRAZY STUFF HAPPENS.
> 
> Skrillex goes into Data mode because he was created by Toby Litwak/Mr. Litwak's super amazing nephew (he finally has a name!) on a computer before being downloaded on to DJ Hero 2. As such, he makes a connected from deep within his code, and finds out that he likes going into god mode. Then again, who wouldn't.
> 
> The deadmau5 joke at the end is from a) the real deadmau5 often goes on Minecraft (and griefs people a lot), and b) he made a song, Get in the Cart, Pig/Fn Pig based off of the game after he couldn't get one of the adorable yet retarded pigs into a mine cart.
> 
> I love those pigs, they're all dumb and wall-eyed and pink and adorable :D
> 
> ANYWAY, I hope I didn't turn you off with this chapter. Action Replay is exploring more than just ordinary arcade games, because nothing in the Wreck It Ralph universe is merely "ordinary".


	11. Vs. Super Mario Bros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Vs. Super Mario Bros. and laugh quite a bit.

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey giggled as she and Sonic lazed about in her tiny house, talking about everything and nothing as he played with her hair. She was technically on call for the Codebusters, but after Skrillex assumed partial godhood and Choko became a pig farmer/code transplantation expert, Honey was allowing herself to just relax and plot world domination with her best friend. Speaking of which, "So...wanna play truth or dare?"

Before he could respond—judging from the healthy blush on his cheeks things were about to get interesting—Amy started pounding on her door. "Honey! Your code friends are here!"

Darn, she really wanted Sonic's opinion on M. Sonic's scandalous girlfriend. "Duty calls, blue boy wonder. I'll be back before the arcade opens."

After she changed into her uniform he walked her out to the port instead, and she was definitely spoiled by the company of good men. Skrillex could learn a thing about properly respecting her awesomeness. Waving bye to her best friend, she skipped over to her other best friends. "Back on the job so soon after contacting another world, huh?"

"I think it's good to keep up the work ethic; we don't want our skills getting soggy like overly milk-soaked cookies, now do we?" Choko's favorite pig was in the front seat so Honey stifled her laughter into the upholstery of the back row. "Besides, I don't think it's a good idea to keep Mario-san waiting."

Skrillex whistled lowly, fingers racing across his laptop. "Mario's a real legend, I wonder what went wrong in his game..."

"Probably a turtle koopa thing got lodged in the cloning matrix or something." Honey stretched, not really accidentally knocking his glasses askew. "Got your super powers under control, Dr. Manhattan?"

"If I feel the urge to reorganize someone's code, I'll be sure to start with you first."

"Glad to know, Sir Too-Hipster-For-Hipsters. Put on enough mascara today?"

"I do not wear mascara!"

"You're looking rather raccoon eyed today—is that glitter?"

Thus began a grand and record-setting slap fight down the cord, Choko swerving to knock them against the door handles. Her pig was making little pig noises and Honey lost it, collapsing in a fit of giggles and bringing the rest of her fellow code masters with her. "What is—hah!—what's the pig for, china doll?"

Choko parked the car and fixed them with a very grave stare. "Mr. Waddles is equipped with cherry liquorice laser cannons; if anyone so much as breathes funny on my cart, they will be eliminated."

By the time the cast of Vs. Super Mario Bros showed up, Honey and Skrillex were in fetal positions on the ground, trembling from the aftermath of a throughout laugh-lashing. "Mama mia!"

"Mr...Mr. Mario!" Skrillex pulled himself up, and Honey gave him credit for getting his breath under control. "It's an honor to meet you; what seems to be the problem?"

"It-sa my brother, Luigi! He's been a-trapped all day, and we canna a-find him."

Princess Toadstool—that was her name, right? Damn 80's games and their subsequent character updates—nodded, wringing her hands. "Bowser last saw him practicing underground, but that was before the arcade opened, and ever since then he's just been missing."

Choko nodded and jumped out of her car. "If you could take us to his last reported location, that would help, Toadstool-hime."

Mario jumped into the air. "Then let-sa go!" Honey trailed behind them, fighting down the urge to grin. Sure, he was Nintendo's golden boy and she was still getting used to the post-Console Wars political scene, but he was just so cool! She and Skrillex shared a grin as Choko began digging for answers on the dessert-adaptable qualities of mushrooms. Maybe today they wouldn't face certain death at the hands of cool and unusual glitches.

* * *

Honey peered into the pipe leading to the end of World 1-2, looking for any sign of Mario's wayward brother. "Are you sure he got lost in here?"

Bowser roared in the affirmative, and Honey translated for her friends. "He said that had he gone through the pipe as usual, the game would have registered his presence in the data logs. As it is now, approx. 5 minutes before the arcade opened he fell off the grid somewhere in this room."

"...and you got all that from one roar?" Skrillex coughed discreetly into his palm, but Honey and Bowser only laughed.

"Talking character problems, dearest. Did you find anything Choko?"

Choko was staring at the layer of bedrock below the bricks of the main floor. "Is there anything behind that pipe, Mario-san?"

"Just the warp-a pipes. He would-a appeared somewhere else if he-a taken them."

"Hmm..." Choko bit down on a pocky stick. "How do you get to the warp room?"

"Through the ceiling." Princess Toadstool pointed at the moving platforms descending from darkness. "It's the only way I know of to get in there."

"Uh huh..." Choko hopped across the platforms and faced them. "I don't buy it." Quickly running back, her raised foot hit the corner of the bricks and she pulled back. She landed on the brick layer below and began to glide through the ground towards the back of the pipe. "What happens if I jump into the first pipe before the rest of the warp zone ends?"

"I..." Mario watched as Skrillex and Honey did the same move, wringing his hat. "I have-a no idea where the game will a-put ya."

"Only one way to find out!" Honey helped the vertically challenged Choko and Skrillex jump into the pipe before the room finished loading. "And we are entering...World -1."

"Minus World?" Skrillex suddenly flickered, and his eyes grew wide. "Oh crap—can everyone swim?"

"Swim? Why do we need to—"

Choko's voice cut off as they materialized under water. No, Honey couldn't swim very well; she didn't really have the chance to learn in the sixteen years she spent trapped in a dark void. Swimming upwards, she banged against the water's surface but no dice. This was so dumb, why didn't they bring Mario, she was going to drown and Sonic was probably going to go Turbo and kill this game in her honor and...

And she didn't need to breath. Honey blinked as Skrillex and Honey floated under her in shock. Taking a risk, she inhaled the strangely sweet water and called out, "Since when does water not act like water?"

"Water's not water when it's made in 1986." Choko doggie paddled up and over a coral reef strip, leaking bubbles but otherwise perfectly fine. "Why bother with super drowning skills when the name of the game is to get through the level as quickly as possible?"

"In the defense of drowning, Labyrinth Zone would like to have a word with you." Skrillex was actually not-retarded in the water, as opposed to Honey's flailing and Choko's tiny arm movements. "But this is a good thing: now we don't have to change the code so we can last long enough to find Luigi."

"Where is the green sheep of the Nintendo family anyway?" Honey clung to Skrillex's hair, trying to orient herself. Spending her entire life talking to a hydrophobic person didn't help with the 'holy Chaos I am now a mermaid' factor of this lovely trip.

After punching a squid in the face when it tried to eat Choko, the three cautiously swam through the periwinkle water, Choko giving into the urge to hoard coins. The music was rather relaxing, and the stupid fishy enemies were easily punched into oblivion, and Honey admitted that as far as weird glitch levels went, this one was rather nice.

Luigi wasn't in this Minus World, and the pipe leading out approached. "Ok guys, he must be in there. Probably in yet another castle, but who am I to judge."

They exited, waiting to be loaded out of the water...and teleported back to the beginning of the level.

Skrillex groaned about infinite loops, Choko flipped upside down and complained about water in her ears, and Honey punched a squid in the face. Screw this Nintendo game, this SEGA girl wanted out!

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

Skrillex floated by the pipe, trying to figure out how to get out. He sent in Honey solo to see what would happen, but nothing changed, and he was getting sick of the dreamy waltz grating against his dubstep-orientated ears. "I'm going to try to convince the game to let us out, ok? Just keep looking for Luigi."

"Dude, we've been through this level five times." Honey kicked dully at a coral plume. "I think the game ate him."

That was a possibility Skrillex didn't want to consider, because Joel read way too much Lovecraft between songs. "Choko, you saw the weird brick glitch that got us here. Any idea how he could've glitched out?"

Choko shrugged, but eyed the tiny space above the pipe. "Luigi-san is not the most...graceful of men, correct?"

"So it goes." Skrillex moved into the lotus position, relaxing into the rhythm of the game's coding.

"So if he were to freak out over being stuck in an infinite loop with a countdown timer—" Hah, the countdown timer was cute. Luckily Princess Toadstool got rid of that nonsense once they showed up. "—would it be a stretch to say he glitched himself into the wall?"

"Told you the game ate him."

Skrillex let Honey and Choko figure out how the wall managed to eat Luigi, and closed his eyes. Breathing and talking through the water was weird as fok for an air-breather, but this way he literally taste the code. Sinking deeper into the collective world of this glitched out level, he tapped into the game engine. 'Ok, let's see what's going on here. /search World -1 data about common game physics i.e. death regeneration power ups.'

...Interesting. They were in World 36-1 without the data for '36', which explained the lack of number in Minus World. What else was missing...ah, they were missing the data that warps the characters out of the underworld to the over world in World 1-2. Reaching out, he plucked a flag from the internal level editing data and placed it in Minus World. 'What else, what else... /search Player 2 avatar aka Luigi.'

Luigi was stuck in the wall. Reminding himself never to let Joel share his books with Honey, he tried resetting Luigi's data. His code burned under his mental hand and Skrillex frowned. 'Stuck, are we? Well, lucky you has two Codebusters ready to play save the princess.' He opened the code in his Action Replay and searched for the one Choko and Honey needed. 'I need me a phasing code, let them reach in and grab this bastard...that'll work.' Plucking it out, he applied it to Luigi's immediate block. Choko would be able to identify him easily now, and now all they needed to do was beat -1 and advance to -2. 'Alright then, that it for now. Oh, and /set coin amount rosebud !;!;!;!.'

Returning from the game matrix, he heard Honey yelling at Luigi and Choko squealing with delight. Never say he didn't take care of his friends.

* * *

"Ok team, we gotta go to Minus World.2 and get the heck out of here." Everyone grunted with agreement as his statement; Honey was busy trying to coax Luigi out of the mess he got in. "He's not phasing through?"

"Nope, the useless baby's too afraid to curl out of the weird locking glitch he's in." Huffing, Honey undid her pigtails. "I'm gonna tie him to me and try to glitch out; if we time it right we'll all get through the flag before the wall eats us."

"Good idea; carry on." Skrillex watched Choko collect all the coins, smiling to himself. "Get ready kid, we're moving on from this loop."

"Do we get to breathe air again? Not that I mind this too much, but I prefer to drink my tea, not inhale it."

The block Honey phased through began to shift and Skrillex tapped the flag pole. Triggering the end level program, they were warped into World -2, landing in yet another underwater level. Honey appeared to their left with her hand in the wall, her expression livid. "The wall ate my hair!"

It was true; her normally long hair was cut off into a short bob. Choko gasped then patted her shoulder, and Skrillex got the uneasy feeling that this wasn't just feminine distress. "Do you need anything, Honey-chan?"

"Just to get through this chaos." Honey jerked on her arm and shook her head. "I got a hold of Luigi but he's not giving."

Skrillex was tempted to break in and fix that mess, but then the pixels in Honey's hair shifted and he refrained; she was still glitchy despite fixing her code, and the last thing he needed was to break his friend in half in a hostile environment. "Let's just go."

There was little of interest in World -2. It looked like a castle dungeon level—which made sense; technically they were in World 3-4—set underwater, and was completely deserted. Choko blew up the bridge to 'kill' the Bowser data, and they advanced to the congratulatory screen. Honey glitched, Choko looked around for a princess, and Skrillex sighed with relief as they fell into Minus World.3; they could finally breathe air.

"Huh, this looks like the last le—AH FOK!"

Swarms of super fast goombas and koopa troopas and that stupid foking latiku on his stupid foking cloud showed up to try and murder them. Honey was defenseless as she was half stuck in a wall, so Skrillex and Choko formed a line of defense. "Save the princess, Choko!"

"Banzai!" Choko kicked a koopa in the face, scuttling the shell into a group of goombas. Skrillex held his laptop over Honey's head as spiny shells rained from the sky, and a goomba bit his butt. Shrieking, he punted it into oblivion and pulled on Honey's arm. "Charge the exit!"

With Choko acting as a very cute, sugar-powered lawn mower, the Codebusters made their way through the level. Fragments of enemies exploded everywhere as coins rained from the heavens, and Skrillex wondered what he did to deserve this. "Spiny shell at four o'clock!" Choko jumped off his shoulders to tackle the latiku, the smarmy bastard, and the resulting impact knocked a wave of goombas to their doom.

Honey glitched harder in his arms with every enemy appearing, and Skrillex needed to disconnect her and Luigi from the game's inner coding. "Choko, I'm, playing god again. Can you be a dear and fight off the Golden Horde?"

"You got it, Sonny-kun!" Really, he needed to bring her to DJ Hero 2; everyone would love her sweetness and willingness to commit gross enemy genocide. Exhaling, he dove back down into the code.

'Oh Luigi.' Luigi's code was spazzing all over the place, and he could heard the poor baby yelling for someone to save him from the evil ghosts. Ghosts? Honey's code splattered against an enemy cloning algorithm, and suddenly their opposition was a lot stronger. 'Nope, nope I'm not having that. /reset HoneytheCat and Player 2 avatar aka Luigi.'

Luigi was freed from the code but Honey sank in deeper, coming apart at the pixels. 'Oh, so you wanna play, Mr. Lovecraft Engine. Execute /killnpc all, /return HoneytheCat and Player 2 avatar aka Luigi to location World 36-3.'

Honey's code still was scattered across the game, but she and Luigi returned to Choko's side. Blinking out of Data-mode, he yelled, "Take Luigi to the end and beat the level! I need to fix Honey!"

While Choko whipped Luigi into shape, Skrillex analyzed Honey. The filler code holding her fragmented avatar together had been sheared out by the glitch, and now she was frozen, wall-eyed and smiling. Suppressing a shudder, he cracked his knuckles and blinked back in. 'Back to this. /locate ChokoPockystix.'

She was about to enter World -4, and Skrillex felt a swelling sense of foreboding. Checking the corrupted level data for Minus World.4, he wanted to scream. 'She's going to crash the game! Honey's code will be wiped out in the reset!' Thinking quickly, he picked up his Action Replay. 'Ok, I have 3 seconds. But 3 seconds isn't three seconds when code moves at the speed of light.'

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

Choko blinked as Luigi-san drop kicked a latiku with his head. She was expecting an eccentric weakling with more screams than substance. And while he did shriek like Skrillex-kun at his worst, and drop kicked with his  _head_ , he was remarkably less lame than she pegged him for.

Waiting to be loaded into World -4, she hoped that Honey was ok. She was there when Honey was still a broken statue; she helped bring her to life! But she had faith in Skrillex-kun, and was sure that the next level would bring better fortune.

They waited in darkness for the level to load, and...nothing. There was a blank void and Choko had trouble breathing because dip her dots, the game had crashed! Screaming along with Luigi-san, they ran around like headless candy corn chickens waiting for the slaughter. "Sonny-kun! Get us out of here!"

She shouldn't have expected him to respond, he was probably saving Honey-chan's life. Not to mention that he probably wasn't omniscient. Hyperventilating, Choko bit down on her Action Replay. "Luigi-san! How do we get back to the main menu?"

"I don't a-know!" He tugged on his mustache. "We need to die to get-a back during normal game-a-play, but we have crashed the game-a! Mama mia, big bro is gonna kill me!"

Choko grabbed his mustache. "If he's going to kill you, we need to get out of here first!"

"...oh, I guess we can-a stay here..."

"Do not despair, Luigi-san!" She unhooked her cartridge, the soft blue glow illuminating the fire in her chocolate brown eyes. "There's always a way out, no matter the reason or location." Looking over the codes, Choko sat down on the bottom of the void. "Let's see...do you know anything about your game's debug mode?"

"No."

"Forcing the watchdog?"

"No."

"Doing anything that will trigger a game over?"

"A-no." He slouched with a sigh. "I bet big bro would-a know how to do all that-a stuff."

Choko stood up. "Don't say that! I am but one of sixteen racers, but we are all as important as even Vanellope-hime. You're more than just a Player 2 palette switch, you know." She smiled as his expression. "Come on, I've never met anyone else who could head-butt an enemy to death. You're fast, you jump very far, and you have a lovely mustache. You're as important as Mario, you just need to know that for yourself."

Something changed in the code of Luigi, and he jumped in the air. "I may not be as strong as Mario, or as popular or-a well respected or anything like that...but I am-a good at being bad. And that's what game-a overs are all about!"

"You got this!" Somehow Luigi managed to slip on nothing and break his neck, triggering a death in an empty stage. The darkness faltered and glitched before they fell into the space by the main hub. Luigi gasped then ran around cheering, Choko showering him with coins. Usually she showered gold-foil chocolate coins on friends who needed a boost, but there were as shiny as any.

* * *

"...and that's all I know."

Princess Toadstool-hime floated next to her in the code well, trying to locate Skrillex-kun's influence in the code matrix. Mario-san and Bowser-san were upstairs congratulating Luigi-san for ending his horribly lame streak, and Choko hoped that her friends were also safe. "Do you see anything unusual, Toadstool-hime?"

"There is a lot of code floating freely against the others..." Princess Toadstool-hime held up a delicate strand. "I believe this is code for hair."

"Honey-chan!" Choko collected the code and searched for more fibers. There! She floated towards a trail of scattered code, absorbing it back into her Action Replay. The trail ended by the level data fr World 1-2, where this whole mess began. "We must hurry, Toadstool-hime! If Honey wakes up without her hair..."

Both of them shuddered; the sudden loss of long hair was worse than death for some avatars. Racing through the halls as fast as the princess's heels could carry her, they jumped back down through the pipe to see a strange sight.

Three Honey-chans were laid around Skrillex; one normal, one blonde haired and pink, and the other black and white. Holes in each of them were being nicely filled in by Skrillex-kun, who seemed very smug considering that he didn't have any clothes on. "Oh hi Choko, Princess. Just fixing my friend, no big deal."

Choko nodded dumbly as she held up her cartridge. "I have data for her hair."

"Thanks, I was wondering where it went." Skrillex-kun frowned. "I think we should wait to put that back in; now she's mixed up with my clothes and my right eye, and I'd like to sort that mess out before putting too much back in."

"Perfectly understandable." Now Choko needed to giggle because one of his eyes was facing towards the wall, just like Mr. Waddles and Miss Pinky and all her pigs back home. Princess Toadstool-hime must've had the same idea, because then both of them were trying not to self destruct.

"Huh, what's so—oh come on ladies, it's not that bad! Haven't you ever seen a naked wall-eyed DJ before? They're all over the place, just ask Joel!"

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

Too many people were crowded in the waiting room outside the Royal Infirmary/Bakery, but Vanellope didn't have the heart to throw them out. If Ralph got half his code gutted through a foreign code web, she'd want to crowd up in people's faces too.

The tinier Sonic was in the process of eating his hand, the bigger Sonic and Chun-Li—and wasn't that was a dangerous mix of speed and power and odd couple heights. Hammer-man was a bad influence on people—making sure he didn't bite off too much. Amy was arguing with Tails over the last cookie on the display, a bunch of shady looking villains were canoodling in a corner, and Knuckles was being lectured by Ralph because breaking every sugar-stained glass window in a senseless rage was both dangerous and very disrespectful.

Glad that somebody was beating manners into that thick skulled nimrod, Vanellope tapped on the operating door. "Can I get somebody for a press release? I'm pretty sure the sight of C. Sonic crying will cause everyone in the arcade to spiral into a soul-destroying depression."

Dr. Mario stepped out, as grave as a grape gumball. Everyone froze, not daring to breathe. "I...I'm-a not sure how to say this..."

"WHERE THE FLYING MOTHER—" such language!"—CHAOS IS MY HAIR?! I THOUGHT YOU FIXED THAT LAST YEAR!"

Baby Sonic burst into giggles as Honey stalked into view, perfectly patched up and radiant from a dip in a rejuvenating honey pool. Skrillex and Choko followed her, rolling their eyes as Honey raved about this was a disgrace, her model clearly called for pigtails and here she was with a mop. And waiting the rest of the week for her code to settle was apparently a crop of baloney, because she wasn't a fragile rice paper doll who needed to be babied. Vanellope approved of the sentiment—it took forever for Ralph to stop freaking out over her tele-glitch before her game got reset—and handed Dr. Mario a thick wad of credits for the bakery. The cotton candy heavens knew that he needed it.

Honey was ranting and raving to C. Sonic, who simply shrugged and twitched his nose. Immediately she calmed down, fluffing her black liquorice colored locks. "Oh, you think it's pretty?"

He nodded and she glomped him, and had she been a Sugar Rush native Vanellope would've bet sugar sparkles would've fallen around them. Snorting, she climbed on Ralph's shoulder. "Hey Stinkbrain, can you do me a huge favor?"

"What do you want, Queen Boogerfarmer?"

Honey was pulling C. Sonic and the rest of her crowd out of the room, babbling about how he sould've said something about her hair three minutes ago. "If I ever act like the heroine of a bad dating sim, kindly punch me into Diet Cola Mountain."

* * *

"Dude, what happened to your eye? It's following me all weird-like."

"And why are you wearing clothes made out of...is this candy?"

"Unless someone hands me a Red Bull in the next five seconds, nobody's hearing nothing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minus World! Easily one of the most famous pure glitch levels out there, Minus World occurs when you enter either the far left or right pipe in the Vs/Super Mario Bros warp zone before the entire screen loads. Normally it's an endless loop, but level editors reveal more freaky glitch locations; on the American versions World -4 is always a dead end, but on the Famicon you can actually "beat" the game.
> 
> Vs. Super Mario Bros. Is an arcade version of the NES game. Normally, a Mario in an arcade is from the much more mainstream Mario Bros., but I wanted more from this chapter, and let's face it: if Litwak got Sega Sonic Arcade in America when it was only released in Japan, then he probably got this game too.
> 
> Idk if Princess Toadstool is named Peach in the first game, so I left that part out. In my mind, the Princess with strawberry-blonde hair is Toadstool, while the blonde is Peach.
> 
> Honey is still pretty broken, but they fixed her again. Skrillex's code commands are a mix of single player commands from Minecraft (makes sense, that where he learned them) and cheat codes (rosebud !;!;!;!;! for The Sims brings me way back). I looked up actual computer commands but they're exclusive to each platform and I figured the current codes work fine enough.
> 
> Sonic and one of the Chun-Lis are indeed dating. Felix started a revolution for short guys everywhere.
> 
> Just a heads up: the next chapter doesn't involve death and destruction, although it is canon. So you can skip it if you want, but I'd like to think you wouldn't.


	12. Hero's Duty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Hero's Duty and there's a wedding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, let's see what I've written so far. Honey has been maimed two times as karmic punishment for kicking major butt across the arcade, Choko has transformed from an overly polite secretary to a hard-racing code extraordinaire, and Skrillex is trying to fit his new-found powers next to his music skills. Action, adventure, Schadenfreude, and a bit of drama...but where is the true lovey-dovey romance beyond background pairings and Choko discovering the pangs of first love?
> 
> So with that, here's a rather action-lacking chapter that finally made its way from Wreck-t Ralph. Skip if you want if gooey wedding glory isn't your style, but who can resist Choko in a sugar-sparkle dress?
> 
> Disclaimer: Choko Pockystix technically came from Sugar Rush which is owned by Disney, Honey the Cat came from Sonic the Fighters which is owned by SEGA, Skrillex sorta came from DJ Hero 2 which is owned by Activision, and a buttload of people came from Hero's Duty (and Fix-It Felix, Jr. for that matter) which is also owned by Disney.

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

 

The crowd screamed as Skrillex mixed to his heart's content, music spinning over their heads like flames from a chariot. While his fellow Djs egged him on, he began melting more and more songs together in a deliciously dirty electro-dubstep-trance-rap rock remix, enough chords to build a skyscraper rattling the reinforced walls. Here he was in his zone, a master of ultra-layered synth screams and bass deeper than the Marianas Trench. Building up to the grand finale, his fingers sparked with static as he yelled over the noise "D-D-DROP THE BASS!"

The resulting shock wave of pure sound blew the roof off the club's walls, tsunamis of color and music flowing through the audience. The song ended with a vicious downshift and a moment of silence filled the empty slots where his remix had been. One person coughed, then the entire room was filled with cheers, people ecstatic at destroying the building with the power of electro-dubstep-trance-rap rock. "SKRILLEX! SKRILLEX!"

Bowing to the adoring masses, he stumbled off the DJ table and was held aloft by his fellow music masters. Suri was screaming for an encore, deadmau5 demanded he give him samples from his set, and in the back corner he could see his code busting pals flopping on the ground proclaiming that they were not worthy.

Skrillex bade farewell to his friends, promising to reset the club's code on his way out, and skipped over to Choko and Honey. "Had I known you guys were here, I would've given you front-stage seats!"

"Dude, people in the computer room could hear that!" Honey was bouncing in her steps as they traveled across the neon back-level to the port. "That was epic, you need to figure out how to do that in other games!"

He blushed at the praise, ducking his head. "Well, I've been working on augmenting my music skills with my super-epic Toby Litwak skills, so I'll get back to you at the end of the week."

Choko jumped on his back, hooking tiny legs on his shoulders. "You simply have to play...whatever that was for Sugar Rush one day. Just imagine the racing that would inspire..."

While she daydreamed on his head—for a girl who only ate candy, she was rather lightweight—he played Shove the Sissy with Honey. Her hair was still in its bob, but Skrillex was sure Dr. Mario had untangled that bit of code. "Rocking the flapper look I see."

"Thanks, I'm experimenting with player reactions to different hair styles." Preening under his attention, she smirked, "And it turns out that the shorter the hair, the more aerodynamic the fighter. Maybe you should get a haircut, Mr. Background Event."

He clutched his head. "Come near me with scissors and I will have to end you."

"He's right Honey-chan, he'd look funny with short hair." Choko ducked as they took the train to the Codemobile waiting outside the port, pondering the great mysteries of attraction. "Cut it short and he'll go from bishounen to dangerously androgynous."

"Yeah, I—hey, I am not a girly boy!" Brat.

Honey snorted and Choko giggled into her palm, and he decided to sit on both in retaliation for their sass. Their muffled protests was very soothing on his back, and he let his admittedly large butt squish Honey into the seat. Sure, he'd probably end up with shaved eyebrows and pink hair for his insolence, but it's not like they didn't have it coming.

After Honey kicked his arse to the Codemobile, Skrillex patted Mr. Waddles the Security Pig, receiving an oink in return. Such a well-mannered pig, he didn't try to eat his clothing like the rest of Choko's half-Minecraft half-Sugar Rush horde. Idly wondering what Sugar Rush-raised pork chops would taste like, he raised an eyebrow as they pulled into their destination. "Hero's Duty?"

"A special request, no evil cybugs glitching out and ready to send me back to the infirmary." Honey looked rather embarrassed at having her code be torn open through another game's code matrix, and Skrillex thumped her on the back. "But if one tries to murder us, just blast the game's BGM at him. You technically made the soundtrack, you know."

Skrillex grinned—he was super stoked to actually listen to what his character model designed—before waving at the group of soldiers standing at attention at the unloading area. "Good after-hours. How can we help you?"

They parted to allow Sergeant Calhoun to step forward, and man was she an impressive blonde. Not that he'd ever hit on her; he knew his league and she was in the punch-flirtatious-bums-in-the-face league. She nodded at them, still stern and super soldiery after half a year in the arcade. "Codebusters, glad you could make it in such a short notice. I have a proposition for you."

"Anything for the lady who helped save Sugar Rush." Choko smiled cheerfully at Calhoun, softening some of the battle-hardened gloss. "Is there something wrong with character avatars? Enemy respawning?"

Calhoun shook her head, and—by the name of auto tune, she was blushing! "No, nothing of that nature. It's just...well, could you be able to regenerate a location that only exists in back story?"

Honey nodded, adjusting her belt. "Choko did the same for my level when she reformatted my programming, so three of us together should be able to make a stable recreation. What do you have in mind?"

Calhoun shifted her weight, smiling nervously. "A wedding chapel."

Choko gasped, Honey snorted that she owed M. Sonic five rings, and Skrillex grinned. "We do wedding programming, building, decorations and music on my part."

* * *

Skrillex whistled at the intimidating vault hiding the code well. Calhoun entered a very complicated cheat code that probably triggered the cutscene she had in mind, and the giant web of Hero's Duty's lifeblood gleamed in the darkness. Diving in once Choko and Honey rechecked their safety harnesses, they carefully entered the matrix. "This is more complicated than I thought. Try looking for Calhoun's data and we'll go from there."

Skrillex resisted the urge to snoop on the data presented, knowing that dropping intel around this game's crowd would end up with him in the brig. They probably had...he didn't know, psycho cy-bug laser lava sharks waiting to tear code traitors apart at the pixels.

What seemed like an eternity of flashing code later, Honey waved them over. "I think I found something!"

They swam over to her end and oh jeez, this was totally private stuff from Calhoun's back story. Code for a guy called Brad, info about her tragic loss of her parents, friends, fiance...oh boy. "Who is she marrying again?"

"Fix-It Felix, why?"

"Good, she's not asking us to bring to life a guy that doesn't really exist." Skrillex paused. "I know Felix, he's an old-fashioned sweetheart, paid really well for the anniversary party. And like half her size."

"Guess whose good example helped convince Chun-Li to go out with M. Sonic." Honey laughed at their expressions; Choko look positively scandalized and Skrillex could only give M. Sonic major props for daring to look Chun-Li in the eye and say without irony that he was a legs kind of guy. "I'm glad for them, he's adorable and she could use some heart-on-sleeve TLC."

"And who are we to deny them such a romance!" Choko held up the code for the chapel, her Action Replay glittering gold as she funneled boundary and location into its existence. "Ooh, do you think we'll get invited to the wedding?"

"If everything goes right and Felix does good by giving her the wedding she deserves, Sonny over here might end up playing for them."

The code box blinked as they made the chapel real, plunking it right by the barracks and altering the weather models so that a permanent sunset would glow through its windows. Skrillex knew about love darn it, he caught Jin taking Xiaoyu to Burger Time just yesterday, and if Calhoun wanted a big fat wedding chapel with all the glitz and glamor, she was getting that wedding chapel. "Start compiling data slots for flowers, ribbons, whatever she wants to deck the place out in. There's some loaded in here already, but something tells me Felix wants ALL the shinies for his lady."

"Ooh, we gotta bring back the minister! But where will he go after this?"

"We can make him an event-only character. Rent him out to other weddings and baptisms and whatever in the arcade rooms, stuff like that." Skrillex began entering slots for his sound system; they were getting all the surround sound the building could take. "Better reinforce the walls; I doubt they'll appreciate me blowing the roof off."

* * *

**Countdown to the Wedding POV**

* * *

People raced across the giant chapel like honey bees on a mission, determined to make this wedding count. Calhoun-san and Felix-san were gazing out the large window, taking about guest lists and decorations, and Choko sighed happily. Pollipop-chan would've been grossed out by all the pomp and circumstance, but Choko loved true love, and here it was, dressed in space armor and a felt cap in front of her.

Shaking herself, she spun on her heel and glared at the meal crew her hand-picked for the reception. Peter Pepper-san, Tapper-san, Mary-san, and her own Beard Papa-ojiisan and Pollipop-chan were assembled in the crowd, standing very straight in her presence. "Ok 皆さん (mina san), we have until Sunday to set up this wedding and we need to go over some ground rules. First off, know the allergies of everyone in this arcade. Some will be walk ins so you won't have time to ask before someone dies from eating peanut butter."

They gulped—such an incident would forever destroy their reputation—and their eyes never left Choko as she paced in front of them. "Next, be considerate of the bride's wants. She is finally getting over the base depression in her programming through this wedding, so you cannot screw this up. If she wants jelly bean root beer floats for the main course, she gets her jelly bean root beer floats, and they better be the best jelly bean root beer floats in existence."

"As we know, this is going to be a white wedding, but that doesn't give you the excuse to skimp out on the decorations. I expect the appetizers to be works of art. I expect the dinner and dessert to be legendary. And the wedding cakes better be the crown jewels in the history of wedding cakes, or so help me I will take everyone out back and run them over in my cart! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes!" Their expressions of terror morphed into proud determination and ambition, and Choko prided herself on her team.

"Go and research everything there is to know about pies and soldier fare, and don't come back until your creations are fit for an empire!"

* * *

Honey rolled her eyes as the soldiers argued over who got to sit where. As a mediator for fighting of this nature, she hit everyone on the backs of their meaty heads. "Like I said five times already, the pews are angled so that everyone gets to see Ms. Calhoun and her vertically challenged husband finally tie the knot. But Ms. Calhoun specifically asked for her best unit to be in armor in the front row, so unless she cleared you, you get to sit behind them."

Deciding not to get into the inner drama of the Hero's Duty cast, Honey did her round in the rest of the chapel. Men were double checking all the ribbons, the flowers set to come in the morning before the big event so that they didn't wilt. Not that she would let them wilt of course, but she appreciated the thought anyway. Catching a man as he fell from the ceiling, she walked up to a tense conversation between Felix and Ralph. "Problem, boys?"

"Just that Felix is a sentimental idiot about to ruin his wedding."

Harsh. She looked at Felix, who seemed ready to stamp his foot, and decided to spare everyone the embarrassment. "Ok, what exactly is going on here?"

"I want to make him my best man—"

"Bad idea Felix, bad idea"

"—but he's questioning my reasoning. How could I not choose you, you're the reason why Tammy and I got together in the first place!"

String this bit of juicy info for later, Honey allowed Ralph to retort that "what happens when I wreck the place just like back at the anniversary party? I'll probably be the reason why the wedding fails!"

"Don't say that Ralph, everything will be fine—"

"No it won't! I'm a wrecker, I wreck nice things, and I don't want to ruin this for you!"

"And this is where I step in." Smiling at the two huffing and puffing heroes, she continued sweetly, "Ralph, it warms my heart to see your concern over your best pal. But don't worry; the Codebusters have fixed this place up from the first wedding disaster. You and Knuckles and all the heavy hitters can try and bring down this adamant-reinforced marble, but I doubt you'll be able to leave so much as a scratch."

Ralph blushed and fiddled with the cookie medal strung around his shoulders, and she turned to a grateful Felix. "Don't be hard on the big lug, he's caring in his own thick-headed way about your wedding day. Take him out to Tappers and hammer out this best man business; I got the rest of this."

"You sure?" Now the soldiers were shooting at each other.

Honey cracked her knuckles, her Action Replay thrumming under her day clothes. "Trust me hon, they'll be sweet as kittens before the day is over."

* * *

Music from Hero's Duty echoed through the chapel, vibrating as Skrillex honed the right amount of treble and bass to fill the vaulted room. "Acoustics are great, now for the soundtrack." Scrolling down his laptop, he asked Calhoun, "So what do you want to walk down the aisle to? I can mix the traditional 'Here Comes the Bride' electric guitar sample we have here with your personal leitmotif, or we can access music from the internet from the computer room."

"Try the first one." Calhoun hovered over his shoulder and Skrillex made a quick mix of the two. The surround sound carried the music through the air and Calhoun melted ever so slightly. "I...I think that's a good one."

"Perfect, it compliments your selected music for the beginning part. Any word from Felix about what he wants for the reception?"

"Nothing specific, just something he can 'bip bop' to." Calhoun raised an eyebrow as Skrillex cough to cover up his laughter. "Have something funny to share, Mozart? That's my husband you're snorting about."

"Nothing's funny ma'am." He scrolled down a bit more, then looked up art the sergeant. "But just a question. Of all men to fall for, why a 16-bit handyman from the 80s?"

She paused, then gave him a genuine smile. "Exactly what you just said. He doesn't see me as some run of the mill battle bimbo to have a wild night with, but as an actual person." She leaned against a marble pillar, gazing off into the sunset. "Sure, he's a cheese ball marinated in fluffy bunnies, and sometimes I get frustrated over the differences in our programming, but he loves me despite my..." She gestured at herself. "I'm not a extroverted friend-maker like he is, but around him I feel like I could be. He didn't make a big spectacle of our relationship, he's respectful of my back story and only pushes when I need to be pushed, and he's just so genuine, so friendly and polite and so damn cheerful like...like—"

"Like your exact opposite that was built just for you?" Skrillex smiled at her shocked expression, resisting the urge to play every single one of the cheesy romance songs collected on his Mac. "I love a good love song, ma'am, and you two play just like one." Standing up, she shook her hand. "Whatever music you want, you got, just as long as you never stop."

* * *

Vanellope jumped up and down on her giant sponge cake bed. "I'm gonna be a maid of honor! I don't know what that is, but who cares!" She front flipped in front of her closet, ripping it open and throwing dresses on the bed. "Help me pick out a good dress guys, we need spectacle, sparkles and whatever else you think fits!"

All the assembled female racers dug through the clothes, discarding everything that wasn't twice the size of Vanellope's head. Minty held up a giant chocolate-brown dress, barely visible under the madness. "How about this one?"

"Hmm..." Vanellope ran her fingers over the material. "Too drab for the event, but I like your style. Find me the giant pink dress that I never wear!"

Taffyta swam through the mess on the bed, searching for pink. "The one with the cape and gloves?"

"Exactamundo." Vanellope quickly brushed out her hair, letting Marzipanne and Lemonetta fret over the perfect tiara and matching candy barrettes. "You think it's fancy enough?"

Taffyta and Snowanna dragged out the dress, and everyone could see the faint aura of princess power radiating from its layers. Crumbelina clapped her hands. "Oh, it's perfect!"

"You think it needs jewelery?" Bubblebetty was matching the selected barrettes with the calla lilies from Vanellope's bouquet. "If we're going all out, it needs some bling."

Pollipop dragged open one of Vanellope's closet drawers, finding a wealth of chokers, ribbons and rings. "This sweetheart one matches perfectly."

Sour Apple measured Vanellope's arm span and nodded. "Yep, the outfit made it through the slight model changes. I'll take it to the drizzle cleaners so they can sugar it up."

Vanellope, hair done up in a proper bun, nodded. "Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it." She bit her thumb, frowning at the bouquet. "Does anyone know what a maid of honor does?"

Everyone shifted around, searching their child brains for any specifics on weddings. Jubileena snapped her fingers. "I have a movie about weddings back home, we can watch it to find out!"

"I officially call for a Girls-Only Wedding Sleepover Spectacular!" Everyone cheered and Vanellope waved her arms." Choko, Adorabeezle, break out the candy and s'mores makers! And everyone bring their own fancy dresses; we're gonna get this right the first time, no matter how many tubs of ice cream we go through!"

* * *

Mary quickly loaded the pies into the oven, swiping off sweat as Tapper refilled her water jug. Everyone was in overtime as the wedding loomed over their heads; they had five hours until the arcade opened, and after that they needed to load the chapel for the wedding. Gritting her teeth, she counted forty pies waiting to be filled as one of the assistants kicked up the AC.

Helpers from Burger Time ferried ingredients and utensils between the overclocked bakers and cooks and pyrotechnicians. Flame erupted over their heads as Peter Pepper battled the largest grill Mary had seen in her life, and she hoped that her pies would survive the night.

Burt it wasn't all bad. She felt a camaraderie between herself and her fellow food masters, her code firing off as quickly as theirs as they pushed their programming to the max. Sugar Rush donated their giant bakery fields for their needs, Mario got them the finest imported mushrooms, and everyone was so excited for the wedding. Mary loved weddings, loved the romance and the tradition, and the fact that Felix was getting married took the cake.

The bride's wedding cake itself was a giant fifty tier tower with multiple smaller tiers branching off, filling up a large table by itself. Every light-flavor in the book was in that cake, catering to the various allergies and preferences the guests had, and the sheer magnitude of the cake broke three baking records. Mary switched places with Beard Papa; her cake skills were needed for the groom's cake still in production.

Twirling her piping bags and eyeing the growing masterpiece of darker flavors, Mary dove into the chaos with all the strength her limited movements had. Felix was her hero, and he deserved only the best she could give him.

* * *

M. Sonic adjusted Tails' tie, Knuckles and Shadow milling around and griping about their formal wear. "For the last time guys, they're not monkey suits. Have some decorum, we're not showing up to a wedding in casual attire."

"Easy for you to say, you're always going to those spokesperson things." Knuckles tugged on his collar and screwed up his own tie. Tails giggled as M. Sonic nearly choked him with the material, the echidna squeaking out, "And you—gack!—always dress to impress when there's a lady involved."

"That's because he's got manners." Amy walked into the room, all dolled up in a rose dress, and snorted at their expressions. "Come on boys, Eggman's waiting outside with the rest." Grabbing on to Tails hand, she called back as they made their way out, "And the kids from Sonic the Fighters are out here too. C. Sonic's about to pass out."

Groaning, M. Sonic dragged Shadow and Knuckles out to see C. Sonic blushing very deeply in his own little tuxedo. Taking a moment to acknowledge his lil bro's cuteness, he chased away the people pinching his cheeks and making the poor kid second guess showing up. "All ready for the big event? Where's Honey?"

C. Sonic replied that Honey was with the Codebusters making sure that nothing went wrong in the early stages. Figuring that he'd get to pick on C. Sonic at the actual wedding, he led the motley group of finely dressed humans and anthropomorphic animals out into GCS. Everyone was on their way even though the wedding wouldn't start for another hour, and both Sonics tapped their foot impatiently as they waited in line.

"What are you guys doing?" Honey came out of the port and wow, she really cleaned up in a silky red number that had C. Sonic self-destructing. "You guys are on the express list since M. Sonic kept Mr. Best Man from going nuts last year; follow me."

Thumping C. Sonic's back, M. Sonic and both Tails laughed at the little blue hedgehog tripped over himself to walk with Honey. "Do crushes really turn you into a loser?"

"Don't ask me, I've got this." And Chun-Li was absolutely stunning in her dark green qipao, waltzing up to him as if she owned the arcade. Grinning at his awestruck lil bros, he wrapped his arm around her powerful waist and headed into the wedding scene. She rubbed the back of his ears and ok, he was a big fat slow-mo loser and Shadow could laugh at him all he wanted, but if Felix could get lucky with his own babe, then so could the fastest thing alive.

* * *

Everything was set. All the guests were neatly filed into pews on both sides, Skrillex was building up the music to the final stretch, and not a single cy-bug could be seen out of the giant windows. Everyone was in their best attire—Ralph's bare feet and Felix's admittedly formal occasion cap could be forgiven due to their natures—and the only thing missing was the bride herself.

Suddenly the music swelled into a triumphant remix of Calhoun's leitmotif, and everyone turned to see her gliding down the aisle, the Sugar Rush girls throwing sugared petals into the stilled air. Taking her place at a beaming Felix's side, Tamara Jean Calhoun was a goddess in glittering white, and her smile was as radiant as the jewels in her hair.

They turned towards each other as the music melted into delicate strings and bells, complemented by the laser trackers of the guns the soldiers on the bride's side pulled out and aimed towards the windows. The minister spoke the simple passages as some of the burlier bosses, namely Zangief, wiped away their tears, and both Chun-Lis nestled into the sides of their dates. Q-Bert and his gang kept their curses to themselves, the food crew took a moment to relax before the nerve-wracking reception, the Djs appreciated their friend's work, the ambassadors from the computer room marveled at the HD graphics, and Honey held on to C. Sonic's hand as Amy and Tails pretended not to notice.

Once the minister spoke, "You may now kiss the bride", Felix tossed his hat back and dipped Calhoun low, everyone cheering as an arcade marriage came into being. Ralph wiped away a tear, the Sugar Rush racers sighed dreamily, and the Codebusters gave each other a thumbs up. Best wedding ever.

* * *

By the time Mr. Fix-It tipsily carried a giggling Mrs. Fix-It to their awaiting carriage, courtesy of the racing games, everyone was in agreement that the reception was also the best one in history. Ralph and the rest of Bad-Anon sang bawdy songs from the bar, the cake was demolished in minutes as the food crew high-fived each other, all the dates and some new ones had torn up the dance floor, and M. Sonic and Ryu had disappeared for a good half hour, returning with secret grins and a new friendship.

After the newlyweds made off for Extreme Easy Living 2, Honey met up with Choko and Skrillex, grinning ear to ear. "And how are you guys doing?"

"Spectacular." Choko somehow had kept her beautiful pink sugar-silk kimono from being stained by her chocoholic tendencies, wiping her mouth primly with a napkin.

Skrillex, on the other hand, was laid out on the DJ booth, chugging a Red Bull. "I can't believe I played YMCA without irony. And I can't believe that everyone danced with even less irony."

Laughing, Honey ruffled their heads. "I'm heading out; the Sonic casts are gonna party it up on the racing tracks, cars vs. runners. You guys have rides back home?"

"Joel gave David a swirly so Layla's digging him out; once they get him unplugged I'll go home."

"King Candy's taking all the racers back together." Yawning, Choko stood up. "I need to congratulate my team before we go; they've gotten 5 new requests for their skills. お休みなさい (Oyasuminasai)!"

Skrillex dragged himself off the table and loaded up his things with a snap of his fingers, and the three parted. Tomorrow was another big gaming day, and who knew what kind of chaos the Codebusters would get into next, but one thing was clear: if the code business didn't pan out, they were fine with being wedding planners

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ojiisan: honorific for grandfathers and seniors you are familiar with
> 
> 皆さん (mina san): Everyone
> 
> お休みなさい (Oyasuminasai): Good night
> 
> Why yes, I love weddings. How could you tell?
> 
> Extreme Easy Living 2 is the scrapped game from Wreck-It Ralph that was a mix of The Sims and Grand Theft Auto. The storyboard make it look really touristy and beachy, and where else would two newlyweds go on a honeymoon except for a beach getaway?
> 
> Next chapter we return to the standard 'bad things happen to the Codebusters' action. But I hope you liked this chapter; I am a HUGE fan of Hero's Cuties, and Calhoun really does deserve an awesome wedding after her last one resulted in Brad getting eaten :D


	13. Star Wars Arcade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Star Wars Arcade and the girls stick together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because of the events of the Big Damn Wedding, a pairing that was SO FREAKING OBVIOUS bumped it's premier up three chapters early. As such, I had to move games around to even out the too obviousness and the mandatory plot elements, and it's such a huge headache that I'm swearing off entire arcade-altering chapters until at least chapter 15.
> 
> Oh, and I have a question: would you rather have a game filled with so many characters, most of the game play revolved around defeating them so they could be used in-game, or a game with a smaller roster with the story mode going deep into their characters? (Spoiler alert: this is a big freaking question for events later in this universe. Answer honestly.)
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Sugar Rush (Disney), Sonic the Fighters (SEGA), DJ Hero 2 (Activision) or Star Wars Arcade (Atari).

**Choko's POV**

* * *

The call to action came when Choko was in the bakery, refreshing the frosting on the Codemobile. Looking up to see Vanellope-heika leading Skrillex-kun into the designing table, she finished up the mini-game and switched her hair color back from banana yellow to sweet bean pink. "We're bakery fresh and ready to roll out. What game needs help tonight, Vanellope-heika?"

"According to a mutant turtle guy—I think his name was Leonardo?—the Star Wars cabinet started glitching towards the end of the day." The violet-eyed queen shrugged, "They haven't said anything, but it wouldn't hurt to check on them. You never know when a game's set to crash."

Nodding in grim agreement, Choko jumped into the driver's seat as Skrillex-kun and Vanellope-heika piled in the back, Mr. Waddles absently chewing on the upholstery. "Silly piggy, you know that too many marshmallows are bad for a developing security pig."

Ignoring her friends' laughter—they simply didn't appreciate the immense responsibility that came with being a top-tier pig farmer—she raced across the candy-based hills, relishing the sweet wind flowing through the open cart. Dropping Vanellope-heika off at the castle so she could make her tea party with Ralph-san, Choko rode off towards the port of her game. "What do you think could've gone wrong, Sonny-kun?"

"Here's hoping it's not another AI issue; resetting noses is a messy business suited for the unfeeling." Skrillex-kun subconsciously wiped his nose and Choko giggled, prompting him to smack her upside the head. "But nothing you can't handle, brat. Just run over the competition."

Choko seriously pondered the costs and benefits of upgrading her Codemobile to be a battering ram on wheels as they entered GCS, nearly hitting a decorative shrub when Skrillex-kun tugged on her shoulder. Braking by the aforementioned shrub, she crossed her arms, "Sonny-kun, what—"

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

He pointed at a nearby port and Choko's eyes widened. "Is that..."

"Yep."

"And is that..."

"Seems like it."

"And are they..."

Skrillex laughed, slapping his knee as he leaned back into his seat. "It's about freaking time! Somebody owes me money, and I'm talking big money." Glancing back at the port, he shook his head and thumped his forehead against Mr. Waddles' seat. "I'm sorry, but I just can't right now."

Blushing on behalf of her friend, Choko pulled up to the port and honked her horn. "Come on, we need to check out the space opera!"

Honey-chan squeaked and jumped in the air, resulting in a tangled pile of yellow and blue limbs. Pulling herself together, she stuck her tongue out at a laughing Skrillex-kun and turned back towards C. Sonic-kun. She smiled at him, rolled her eyes at Skrillex-kun making a fool of himself, and gave C. Sonic-kun a goodbye kiss before heading towards him. Not that Choko thought the berry-red hedgehog needed any more PDA, but who was she to judge in the arcane rituals of love. Giving Honey-chan time to settle in the Codemobile, Choko graciously ignored the past few minutes. "Ready to go?"

"Not a word, hipster chump. Not. A. Word."

"Sure, sure, it's not like everyone in GCS saw that or anything, I'll keep this secret to—OW! My foking plugs!"

Choko let them settle their differences through the standard beating-the-filling-out-of-each-other, and patted Mr. Waddles on his blocky head. As she had helped C. Sonic-kun bring Honey-chan to life, she saw his devotion and pure adoration of her first hand, and was resisting the urge to throw them a giant tea party in congratulations. Skrillex-kun was right, it was about darn time!

Maybe it was the leftover cheesecake from Mr. and Mrs. Fix-It-san's wedding, maybe it was proximity to Mr. Waddles' cuteness, but Choko let herself sigh about a certain blue-suited hero on her way into Star Wars' port. It was a silly pipe dream, it would never happen as long as she was a twelve-year-old Sugar Rush racer, but she absolutely envied how Honey-chan was smiling out the cart's side, it was just so—

A TIE fighter blasted the earth from out beneath them, Choko glitching in her efforts to keep them from smearing on the ground. While her friends screamed and flailed, she accelerated into the darkness, their models evaporating into vectors. Suddenly the ground wasn't ground so much as free-floating space, and the Codemobile rocketed into the distance as Skrillex-kun screamed, "WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

"Now now Sonny-kun, I'm sure—"

"Look out!"

A swarm of TIE fighters appears literally out of nowhere, and Choko upshifted. For some reason she couldn't quite define, she had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

If racing around in Crazy Taxi was crazy, then using her cart as a spaceship was out of this world. Following the lead of what she assumed the good guys were doing, she made a quick barrel roll out of a TIE fighter's fire, Mr. Waddles shooting lasers at any enemy starfighter that dared come near her precious Codemobile.

High-fiving her pig, she threw her spacecart into reverse. Honey-chan untangled herself from the desperate hold she and Skrillex-kun were engaging in, and began to twitch. "Choko."

Mr. Waddles took out an enemy TIE fighter as Choko charged her weapons bay.

"What are you doing?"

A Death Star loomed in the distance, and Choko grinned; surely there would be answers there!

"Choko!"

Choko charged her pocky javelin, and taking a page from Vanellope-heika's move set, swung the spacecart around.

Skrillex-kun handed Honey-chan a microphone. "STAHP!"

The sound wave coupled with the launched javelin destroyed the entire armada of TIE fighters looming behind them in a large flash of vector-generated explosions, and Choko cheered as little pieces of light rained down on them. "Yay, new personal record!"

Mr. Waddles oinked happily as a group of X-wings circled around them, light glinting from their wire-frame models. One of them spoke through a speaker, "Hey, you guys are the Codebusters!" Immediately the others began a huge swirl of gossip and excitable chatter that made Choko blush; she'd never really interacted with fans before, beyond saving them from cool and unusual glitchy doom.

The more developed X-wing, most likely the player avatar, came to Choko's side. The cockpit opened and  _hello_ , she didn't know the main character was a blue-eyed blonde. "I'm Luke Skywalker, miss. Do you think your friends could help us?"

Choko giggled and blushed, and oh god she was NOT doing this again! She wouldn't allow it! "Well, since you asked so nicely..."

Luckily Honey-chan came to her rescue, and Choko swore to never make fun of her excessive PDA as long as they were in this game. "We'll be happy to help anyone who helped take down the evil empire!" They fist bumped. "Do you know what's wrong with your game?"

TIE fighters screamed out from the darkness, firing shots and it was just plain rude to interrupt people with a well-timed attack. Luke-san yelled out as he snapped his cockpit shut, "When we were downshifting the enemy AI for the end of the day, something went wrong!"

Skrillex-kun grabbed Mr. Waddles and pulled out his headphones, static flying from manically large eyes. Slapping the headphones on the pig, he transformed Mr. Waddles into a pig-stereo android, and blasted a sonic cannon blast towards the TIE fighters, jumping on to the back of an X-wing "Foking enemy foking AI in a FOKING ARCADE GAME!" He flew off towards the Death Star, leaving a trail of devastation behind.

One of the pilots coughed. "Is he always this...enthusiastic?"

Honey-chan grumbled and jumped into the shotgun seat. "Between getting his butt kicked and sticking his giant nose in private business, I guess he can be chaotic good on a goody day."

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey didn't like space. Not that the night sky in HD games wasn't beautiful to look at from a graphically limited perspective, but this blank darkness was too much like the void she went crazy in. Between that and Choko's psychotic driving, it boded very ill for any dream of become an astronaut.

"Choko, watch out for those enemy fliers!" Honey grabbed on to her seat for dear life as they made a barrel roll past a group of TIE fighters. "I'm out of my element here, what do I do?"

Choko bit down on a sugar dusted lip, gunning down the enemies with well placed pocky. "We need to infiltrate the enemy and take them down from the inside. This is just assorted candy compared to the main course."

Honey clutched on to her Action Replay, the blue keeping her grounded in zero gravity. "I assume the enemies are coming from the Death Stars, but they keep getting blown up too much to be an enemy base."

The Codemobile boosted past exploding vectors. "Wait—Luke-san said they tried to downshift the enemies. Surely there's a set enemy spawn point if they can manipulate the enemy behavior during normal game play when the code is most dangerous..."

Honey punched a TIE fighter in the face because she could. "That's right; when we went to Minecraft I got my mirror to do matches through a direct access point to that part of the console." Snapping her fingers, she expelled a burst of golden static to cause a TIE fighter to plow into his friends. Sucker. "And my Sonic told me that there's all sorts of places where the code is sensitive to manipulation. It's part of the reason why our Action Replays work outside of the code matrix."

Choko grinned and blew a squadron of enemies to bits, and Honey caught the glow-stick like remnants. "So if we blow up the enemy spawn point where the code hurts the most..."

"Then we can end this endless game and fix the code!" They high-fived and avoided being exploded. "Use the radio to alert Luke-san and get directions. I'm needed out here to keep the enemies from overflowing, but if you could be nice enough to do the heavy lifting?"

Honey manipulated the gumdrop dials and Luke Skywalker's voice crackled over the freshly baked stereo. "This is Red Five."

"This is Candy One, requesting location of enemy spawn point so I can kick major butt, over."

"It's twenty clicks to the general left. It's isolated behind a breakable vector wall, you can't miss it."

"ありがとう (Arigatou), Red Five. Candy One out."

Choko smiled. "I didn't know you consciously knew Japanese."

"What can I say, being a Codebuster has been a learning experience. Now let's go end this madness early; it's taco night back at the console, and I'm not going to let Nack use up all the corn tortillas."

* * *

Just like Luke said, the real Death Star was behind a beautiful array of vectors. Honey actually felt bad for Choko destroying it, but once an angry swarm of TIE fighters came shooting out the sentiment drained away. Stupid enemies trying to blow everything up, no wonder the evil empire was rightfully taken down. "Can you get me into the Death Star?"

"Oh Honey-chan, ye of little faith, do you think so little of my driving skills?"

"To be fair, you usually race on a track..."

"ONWARD!" Pocky exploded the vector models, chocolate and pieces of light whipping past their faces. The engine beneath their seats revved up and Honey could feel the power Choko lovingly baked into their cart. Gripping harder on to her cheat cartridge, Honey's eyes widened as Choko flipped them upside down to eliminate a group of starfighters swarming from below.

Choko giggled as they survived the attack, and Honey tried to relax. She was on a mission into deep enemy territory, she couldn't afford to freak out over the void. Seriously, she needed to get over it before Choko or Skrillex got themselves into a situation needing her fighting expertise and she was too busy going 'eek a dark scary place like the one where I watched my best friend/boyfriend/soul mate lose his mind'.

Thinking about him learning how to smile again—thanks to Choko, of all people—helped Honey get a grip and prepare herself. Choko flew into the Death Star, the surface more opaque than the space stations Skrillex was probably savaging at the moment. "Ready, Honey-chan?"

Honey narrowed her eyes. "If I die...tell Sonny he can have my eyeshadow." With that she launched herself into the glossy metal of the station, bringing her fists down in a blaze of static. The metal imploded with her impact and she face-planted in the spartan interior, thanking Chaos that she hadn't brought back her pigtails yet; scrunchies were deceptively painful in crash landings.

Shaking the emeralds out of her eyes, she looked around the corridor. Various stormtroopers and technicians were looking at her like she was radioactive—she blamed the vectors lights still stuck to her uniform—and she grabbed the nearest flunkie. "Take me to your leader before I defenestrate you into an active starfighter battle."

Never say that she wasn't diplomatic. A platoon of stormtroopers escorted her into the heart of the station, pale light from the vector-metal illuminating the fear in their faces. Ah, they were aware of the enemies going crazy and not happy about it; maybe she could pull a revolution and take down the baddies from the inside instead of just punching everyone.

Absently wondering how her Sonic was doing, she came to a halt in front of a prison cell. "Guys, I said 'take me to your leader', not 'throw me in jail so my friends can blow everyone to Chaos'."

"Don't worry, these guys are clean." A dark-haired girl in white came out of the prison cell and Honey admired the size of her hair buns. Maybe she should start experimenting with hair models. "Wait, aren't you a Codebuster?"

"That I am, Miss..."

"I'm Princess Leia, even though technically I serve no purpose in active game play and can't be reached normally." Honey knew those feels, it sucked to be added in by a programmer then be dummied out. "I suppose something went wrong with our game?"

"Yeah, TIE fighters are overflowing and trying to take out anything that has a vector." They started walking down the hall, heading to who knew where. She needed to catch up on her Star Wars movie info, maybe she and Sonic could watch a DVD in the computer room. "Before we can get into the code well and fix the enemy AI code, we need to stop them from the inside, which so happens to be here."

"Ah, smart decision. The throne room data is somewhere around here..."

They wandered the halls; the stormtroopers either were forbidden from directing them to the evil Emperor, or they didn't know themselves. Considering the data limitations in such a classic game, Honey was leaning towards the former. On the bright side, it was nice to talk to a girl her age. "So you've been stuck in this Death Egg—I mean Death Star, forgive me and my SEGA logic—ever since it got turned on?"

"More or less. Luke keeps trying to get me out of here but every time he just...fizzles into vectors and his knowledge of me resets."

Honey froze, because oh god it was the void all over again. "The same thing happened to me, expect my friend Sonic had a Game Genie and could remember my face. Even then I was trapped for sixteen years..."

Leia smiled sadly, and Honey wanted to blow up the Death Star and beat the proof of her existence into every person in this arcade. How many other characters were trapped in a void, dummied out by design or dastardly turbo-caused destruction? This was BS, this was pure chaos, this was the reason she became a Codebuster in the first place! Holding her Action Replay to Leia's face, Honey grinned a very predatory grin. "It's your lucky day, princess. I'm Honey the Cat, and I'm here to rescue you!"

* * *

The Evil Emperor of Evilness was cackling in his throne room, and Honey frowned. Wait, wasn't he introduced in Episode V, which came out after this game? Sure, technically he was around during this part in the time line—for some reason Nack really didn't want to talk about the prequel movies, and she had the feeling he made up everything before Episode IV—but why was he in the Death Star at all?

Leia shared her confusion, and she grabbed on to one of the stormtrooper's blasters. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Ah, Princess Leia, I see you're looking beautiful as ever. Well, as beautiful as a dummied out piece of garbage code can be, I suppose."

Woah, that was uncalled for. Honey raised her fists and let her wings glitch on to her uniform. "You don't exist in this game, you're very dummy-phobic, and who's to say this isn't the first time you've played around with the enemy code? This is an old game, nobody outside of the characters will notice the enemy AI acting up, and even then they could learn to see it as natural."

"Very good, Honey the Cat, but that's to be expected from someone as prestigious as a Codebuster. Be that as it may, however, a mere glitch can't possibly defeat me" The bastard stood from his throne and all the stormtroopers raised their weapons. "Stand down, you meager programs, and kneel before your emperor." Electricity crackled from his fingertips, and he was too detailed for an 80s game, too programmed for an enemy that didn't fly and oh god.

Leia's eyes widened and she shifted her grip on her blaster. "Before his memory reset again, Luke told me that there were 3 Codebusters. Do you think your friends can help us out?"

"Choko's keeping the TIE fighters from spilling into the arcade, Skrillex went off destroying Death Stars..." Honey gulped and gripped tightly on to her glowing blue cartridge, wishing desperately for a Chaos Emerald. "I'll send for help but for now we're on our own."

Typing quickly on to the translucent cartridge, Honey watched as Emperor Turbo quickly eliminated the stormtroopers with a lightning storm fit for a boss battle. "You have a clean late for reprogramming, princess. Let me teach you the ways of face-punching and not-dying and we'll see if it sticks.

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

Choko checked her text message as she spiraled to certain doom, and screamed loudly enough to destroy the windshields of the TIE fighters. There was a dummied out princess? There was a program that went Turbo behind the enemy AI glitch? And he was trying to murder said princess and Honey-chan for the evulz?!

"すみませんが (Sumimasen ga), I must be going! Try regrouping around that Death Star, I believe Sonny-kun and the other X-wing fighters would love to battle you!" Choko swung her cart around and sped towards the real Death Star, wishing a most spectacular and sparkly defeat for the TIE fighters; they even let her reply to her text without shooting at her!

Shedding a single tear for her most valiant opponents, she blated through the beautiful vector shield and pressed down on the gas pedal. The throne room was apparently at the heart of the space station, and if she gained enough momentum...

Vector particles sprinkled her hair as she rammed through the floors of the Death Star. She crashed through an ornate pair of doors and despaired over the scratches in her frosting. Perhaps if she had Swizzle-kun look at the damage, she wouldn't have to—

Choko barely managed to hop out of her cart before it was sliced in half by a bolt of lightning. Cake matter splattered on her cheek, and she slowly turned towards the source of the cart destroyed.

Honey-chan flew into a figure robed in black, and who she assumed was Leia-hime was shooting from an Action Replay/Game Genie/whatever the Codebuster cheat cartridge turned into-enhanced blaster gun. They were putting up a rather good fight, but he was shooting electricity willy-nilly, and another bolt vaporized one half of the Codemobile.

Years later she would look back on that moment and call the explosion a thing of legend.

"手前は私の車を破壊した！この野郎！(Temee wa watashi no kuruma o hakai shita! Kono yarou!)" She ran forward, jumped off of Honey-chan's head, and sank her fist into the heart of this unimaginable bastard! How DARE he destroy her beloved Codemobile! The one she built herself, the one she loved as much as her own racing cart! And for what, so he could take over and terrorize this innocent game?! That stank of Turbo, how did monsters like this man and Turbo ever come into existence?!

As a Codebuster, she was morally obligated to fix the coding of any game, including destroying those who so gleefully screwed around with people's lives! Turbo came in and erased her so he could lock her queen out of her own game, so he could parade around in her king's corpse! Who's to say this emperor could've done the same to this game, she didn't know what the real character cast was!

This emperor, he could've killed Leia-hime and nobody would've known because she was like Honey-chan, and he didn't know how much she suffered, how much she and her beloved suffered for sixteen years before Choko could come and fix them! He didn't care, he lorded their unfortunate natures over them like a racing flag!

He could've added his own army into the code like Mr. Litwak-sama's nephew adding Skrillex-kun to a game. But unlike Toby Litwak-sama, the emperor didn't care about the miracle of life, he didn't care that at the core of it all, Skrillex-kun was one malfunctioning code line away from self-destructing under the weight of a computer-generated program existing in an entirely different processor! He came so close to breaking in Minecraft, splitting apart like her precious Codemobile that this evil bastard so carelessly destroyed!

Did he know what it's like to be a GLITCH? Did he know what it looked like to watch someone LOSE their mind? Did he know about the NOTHING after death? Did he know what it feels like to be UNMADE?!

Choko inhaled a much-needed breath, and startled as she felt beserker tears spilling down her cheeks. Carefully wiping them away, she noticed Leia-hime and Honey-chan standing in a corner, their expressions so sympathetic that Choko kinda wanted to cry. The evil emperor was a misshapen mass beneath her and oww, her hands needed serious TLC.

An explosion took out the west side of the throne room, a large TIE fighter landing gently on the vector-covered floor. A large man in a dark suit—Darth Vader-san, if she was correct—and...Skrillex-kun stepped out, Mr. Waddles bouncing to her side. Skrillex-kun, dressed in a spacefighter uniform and wielding what looked like a thin silver thermos stepped forward. "The TIE fighters have stopped advancing, although they are still building up. If we access the code well now, we can halt the enemy AI bug." He blinked. "Umm, I take it you guys had fun?"

Honey-chan laughed faintly, gesturing towards Leia-hime. "Can we call in my Sonic? We have some other recoding to do, and he's familiar with dummied out characters."

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

"So let me get this straight." Vanellope rubbed her temples. "Some emperor phony went turbo in Star Wars arcade and Choko kicked his butt into next week after he blew up the Codemobile, Honey met up with a dummied out princess and restored her to the game, and Skrillex became a general in the United Empire-Alliance for Saving Star Wars while Darth Vader taught him the ways of the force. Did I miss anything?"

Choko coughed. "No, I think that's everything. Did she miss anything, Sonny-kun?"

Skrillex was in a corner with Luke Skywalker, having a lightsaber duel. Darth Vader had explained that they disconnected the emperor's code from their game before shipping his sorry molasses to the Surge Protector, who sucked him into the floor. Vanellope really didn't want to know what the Surge had in mind for punishment, but after the Turbo mess, he probably had years of built-up rage towards anyone who screwed around with code for the evulz.

Princess Leia herself was reprogrammed with the help of C. Sonic and a group of people from the computer room with access to voice clips. It wouldn't do to have a commanding leader without a voice, after all. Vanellope personally approved of adding Leia, as hard-knocking princesses were a rare sight around the arcade. Not that she was really a princess anymore, but that was a whole 'nother level of code drama best suited for her little minions.

Speaking of which, "So Honey, I heard that something interesting happened by your port today."

Honey turned bright red, and Vanellope idly wondered if infusing red berries with honey would be as sweet as it sounded. Skrillex grinned as Luke and Darth Vader huddled closer for the juicy gossip. "Oh, I made some good betting money today."

"I will personally tear you a new butthole, hipster scum."

"You see, earlier today before our lives took another lovely dip in code chaos—"

"I DARE you to keep going, Sonny Moore."

"Just ask Honey yourself, Your Queenliness, or you could ask the other guy too—"

At that moment C. Sonic decided to come walking in, escorting a brand new Leia into the meeting hall. Honey started strangling Skrillex, Choko deliberately turned away from the drama, the Star Wars characters shared a significant glance, and Vanellope smirked into her tea cup. Her Codebusters were just too much fun sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ありがとう (Arigatou): Thank you
> 
> 手前は私の車を破壊した！この野郎！(Temee wa watashi no kuruma o hakai shita! Kono yarou!): You destroyed my car! You bastarrd! Note here that instead of using "anata" for "you, Choko used "temee". Temee/temae is much ruder and confrontational, and as anyone who has ever read a Naruto fanfic knows, it more or less has the connotation of bastard. It's almost always used by males, but Choko is that mad to start breaking through the gender language barriers.
> 
> I honestly did not intend for a program to go turbo and start screwing up Star Wars. I actually had no idea where this chapter was going, which was probably why it took SO FREAKING LONG for it to be written.
> 
> Anyways, Emperor Turbo screwed up the game's enemy AI to be a douchecanoe. That's all there was, since I'm tired of using faulty AI but didn't really have a choice.
> 
> Princess Leia does not exist in this game, but it makes sense for there to be a dummy Leia. After all, she was the only important girl/potential love interest for the hero (remember that George Lucas didn't intend for Leia to be Luke's twin until Episode VI. He was going to have a random chick be his sister, but then Lucas morphed the two together, which is why we have the squicky incest undertones until the Big Reveal). Honey wouldn't have let any dummied out character stay a glitch after what she went through, and had her fixed up all nice and stuff.
> 
> Honey and C. Sonic forever.
> 
> Anyway, that's it for this clusterfok of a chapter. I'm going to try and get back into the rhythm for updates, because I have three more big arcade events to happen before this story ends.


	14. Dragon's Lair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Dragon's Lair and get a change in style.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello there :D
> 
> After the disaster that was my little sister's 12th birthday party (I had to babysit for a pool party and a Six Flags trip; that's like 24 hours of indentured servitude) I didn't have the writing juices to pump out a new chapter. Then a reviewer from AoC, baroness/reindeerhorns from tumblr drew the most MARVELOUS fan art, and I was just so inspired. So thank her for preventing another hiatus.
> 
> Also, the Round Robin POV from DDR is making a return. You'll see why once I get some needed exposition and plot elements out of the way.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own shi—I mean I don't own Sugar Rush/Disney, Sonic the Fighters/SEGA, DJ Hero 2/Activision, or Dragon's Lair/Cinematronics, who went down a couple decades ago. Shame.

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

Skrillex narrowed his eyes as he concentrated on the piece of paper laid before him. This single sheet would make or break his reputation—no, his life in the arcade. He needed absolute concentration, conviction, whatever other c-words that sounded important, to complete this task. Raising a hand, he brought it down firmly with a manic grin.

"Ooh, interesting color choice. But aren't leaves supposed to be green?"

Ruffling the fur on Tails' head, Skrillex smirked, "Not when you have a 16,777,216 pack of colored pencils, young grasshopper."

He and the casts of Sugar Rush, Sonic the Fighters and his own game were in one of the larger meeting halls in Queen Van's castle. Apparently Bob from Minecraft had intercepted an email that had their games in the details, so Vanellope rounded them up after hours. Suri brought up the idea of blowing off steam that didn't involve obscene acts around small children, and so began the Great Coloring.

He watched Sour Apple and Minty fight over which shade of green suited a green apple-mint chocolate chip ice cream cake, and shook his head; those Sugar Rush kids took flavors too seriously.

Take Choko for instance. The brat had eight different kinds of dipped pocky to choose from in her arsenal, but because her name was derived from chocolate, she'd beat your face in if you even suggested that no, chocolate probably didn't go well with pepto bismol after drinking too much of Tapper's multigrain root beer during one of their free nights off. That didn't go so well; Honey just laughed at him until he deleted the stomach cramps from his data.

Honey could honestly stand to be a bit sweeter, but she probably used up all her nice points on C. Sonic. The two were probably making out somewhere that wasn't crawling with twelve year olds, so Skrillex stole from Honey's pile of colored pencils. Served her right for extreme PDA, even if he was very much approving of the couple.

Queen Van showed up, wearing a white hoodie and purple striped leggings instead of her normal racing suit, and he noticed how her hands were shaking in her pockets. "Listen up losers, I have info on the statuses of our games." She scanned the crowd with large hazel eyes, then snorted. "Someone go get the lovebirds, I don't want to scar my child brain for life."

Nack cheerfully volunteered and came back a few moments later, Honey and C. Sonic held her his arms like footballs made of irate street brawlers. Dumping them on their butts, he motioned for Vanellope to continue and shared a knowing smirk with Skrillex.

"So it turns out that Mr. Litwak's nephew Toby is coming down from Washington with his friends to check out the games in our arcade. The thing that concerns us is that we're due for upgrades to our games, and he was just checking to see when a good date for code overhauls was."

Everyone started to talk at once, ranging from "Yay graphical updates!" to "Didn't we just get a tune-up in 2010?" to "Oh god what if we get our memories wiped?!". Skrillex noticed that Honey's hand was gripping her boyfriend's very tightly, and patted the Action Replay in his pocket.

Van shared his sentiment, waving down all their opinions. "I've talked to Clyde from Pac-Man, and I'm pretty sure our memories won't get wiped. Mr. Litwak wouldn't want to lose years of high scores just for a shinier game, right? So stop your blubbering Taffyta, you're making us look bad."

Waiting graciously for her blonde friend to halt her water works, Vanellope half shrugged. "Since summers are prime time for arcades, there's not really a good time for us to get upgraded. Mr. Toby and his gang are coming down in three weeks once their internships with Nintendo goes on break, but he won't be fiddling with our code until the kids taper off. That's all we know for now, Bob'll keep us updated in case things go sour."

With that everyone was free to go bother themselves. Skrillex had half a mind to finish his psychedelic tree guardian, but decided to shelve the project for later; C. Sonic and Tails were packing up their colored pencils, and he needed specific shades of pink-red-yellow before attempting the hellfire flames of awesome in the pic's background.

Vanellope called out over the din, "Oh, and the Codebusters have a new mission tonight. Dragon's Lair stopped working earlier today and we're not sure if it's a glitch or a problem with the Laserdisc."

While Choko said her goodbyes to her friends/former palette swaps and Honey dragged her blushing blue hedgehog into a corner, Skrillex froze. Crap, there wasn't a real computer in Dragon's Lair so his god mode hacking wouldn't work. That wasn't the issue—he was fine by himself, thank you very much—but he was set up right next to that game. Said game was a coin sinker because every five seconds the poor knight would drop dead from bad player reflexes.

Absently waving at Joel as he left, Skrillex hoped that his reflexes were up to the challenge, because he really didn't want to die because of something so weak as a foking lizard king.

* * *

Choko hovered outside the port to Dragon's Lair, wringing her hands together. "Is it true that we're going into a CD?"

"It's a Laserdisc, but the same rules apply."

"I've heard of games like these. Sega CDs for the home console market back in the 90s. But will the game even accept outside data?"

Skrillex paused at Honey's question. "I guess we'll find out. As long as we don't screw up the disc and cause it to skip uncontrollably we should be fine..."

Honey bit down on her thumb, eyes flashing with data. "...it's an interactive movie, right? That's the game play, just activate the right triggers at the right time."

"So we press X to not die and we'll be ok?" Choko nuzzled Mr. Waddles and Skrillex noticed the growing sense of adventure in her eyes. "If things go sour we can always have Honey to punch the bad guys to death. We have three players to our advantage, after all."

Skrillex grinned and ruffled her hair, taking care not to disrupt the pocky chopsticks she unlocked for her character sprite. "I like the way you think. Let's show them how computer-based characters are!"

They drove into the cord connecting the console, Skrillex bracing himself for the limitations of a Laserdisc. Once they cleared the port's threshold they repixelated into 2D animation, the sensation of chalk filling his limbs as he was cut off from true computer processing/the Force.

Choko parked neatly outside a creepy looking castle surrounded by thorn bushes from hell, and Skrillex had to admit she looked really pretty as a drawing. Her magenta hair was braided around her hair and bangs curled delicately around her face, and her gray jumpsuit turned into a layered pink dress and ballet flats. She looked like a princess that should be saved from a tower, if she wasn't so giddy with the thought of kicking so much enemy butt.

Honey...Skrillex readjusted his jaw as the girl in question did a double take. Apparently Don Bluth like his girl cats as cat girls, and she was transformed into a violet eyed Asian girl dressed in a white leotard with long black hair, giant boobs and a slinky cat tail with cute little cat ears. Ignoring the blatant racism and sexism, Honey rocked the cat girl look, especially in bright red high heeled boots that had no place outside of a dominatrix's fashion show.

He looked at himself and ok, he wasn't half bad. In fact, he was taller than Honey! Keeping down his grin in case she decided to murder him—judging from the tense energy coiled in her hips and shoulders, she was prepared to stab anyone in the face is they even breathed "hot"—he readjusted his heroic black armor and faced his companions. "Ok, so from what I know, there's some odd levels we have to go through until we get to save Princess Daphne, and probably Dirk the Daring too. Stick to normal game play, but if someone screws up a reaction don't hesitate to help a bro out. This game is notorious for the good ol' trial and death game play, and we don't want any funerals. So let's go kick some code, Codebuster style!"

They high fived and charged the castle. Sure, maybe it was considered cheating to have three characters playing at once, but what the heck did anyone expect from code masters wielding heavy duty cheat cartidges?

* * *

**Round Robin POV**

* * *

A woman wailed in the far distance as they approached the castle. Carefully crossing the rickety old bridge, Skrillex unsheathed a sword. "Let's get this over—"

He fell through the floor, slimy purple tentacle monsters rising from the moat. Choko squealed and jumped down onto one of their heads, throttling the evil one-eyed monster before it could do horrible things to her friends.

Honey managed to pull Skrillex out of the hole, slipping onto her knees because crap, the equilibrium of a human was just so strange! Choko grabbed onto her tail pulled herself away from the monster, kicking one to death for good measure.

They ran into the castle, an iron gate closing behind them, and the CD successfully skipped to the next scene.

* * *

They entered a room with three doors, and Honey took the time to tug on her leotard. "I don't think I like spandex very much."

The earth crumbled beneath them and Skrillex caught her around the waist before she could tumble to a very anti-climatic death. "I think you'd like making splat in an endless pit even more!"

"This way!" Choko ran through an open door, hiking up her skirts before rubble could come crashing down and turn their brains to roadkill. Honey tied her hair out of her face with a strip of Skrillex's under cloth, muttering as they went into the next scene about long hair being worse than leotards.

* * *

Skrillex flung his sword at a creepy ceiling tentacle as the girls took on creepy floor tentacles and cursed the day slimy extremities were ever considered for game enemies.

Jumping onto a stairwell as the floor more or less exploded with crawling green feelers, he noticed how the enemies were invincible during the pre-programmed cut scenes. Gripping onto his sword, he considered the tentacles sprouting from a trapdoor up the stairs, and shrugged. It wasn't cheating to kill evil squid arms when you had to protect two Japanese girls.

Somersaulting onto a table, he switched out his sword for the light saber Luke had graciously given him, and made short work of the calamari fodder.

Grinning at Choko, he handed her the sword; Honey loved hand to claw combat, and little princesses always needed a pick-me-up.

* * *

Choko squealed as a snake popped out of the ceiling, chopping off its head before it could bite her and infect her perfectly sugar balanced blood with evil snake cooties.

Another appeared out of nowhere in the fog filled dungeon and she sliced it in half down the belly, turning away because eww, snake guts were gross and why did Pollipop-chan love snakes so much they were just so gross!

She squeaked as yet another long, coily demon snake rose from the fog and she tackled it, tying it into a pretzel knot and screaming impure things about its heritage.

Someone, probably the more level headed Skrillex-kun, triggered a rope falling from the ceiling and Honey-chan grabbed onto Choko's bodice, hoisting her up before the longest snake she'd ever seen in her life could swallow her whole. "SNAKE!"

"Don't worry babychild, we're in the next—"

"Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes!"

* * *

Honey nearly fell into a pit of flames, trying to catch herself in her stupid super-heroine boots. Trumpets blared because the only way across were flaming rope swings and oh yeah, life was just fan-freaking-tastic at the moment.

"Ladies first!" Skrillex backed away like the wimp he was, and Honey wrung her distractingly delicate hands. Nope, fire was dumb, she was not going across.

"Banzai!" Never say that Choko couldn't bounce back from a newly discovered phobia. She swung effortlessly across the ropes, her small weight barely straining the ropes. The little princess landed on the other side and smiled brightly. "Come on guys, it's not that hard! Just don't look down!"

Honey nodded grimly and looked up—she looked up! Since when did he get to be taller than her!—at her knight in hipster armor. "Don't turn this into a habit, four eyes."

"I'd never dream of it, battle brat."

He grabbed onto her waist and jumped onto the burning rope, swinging low to the flames. Honey let out a very high pitched yell as the rope snapped, Skrillex quickly snagging onto the next rope before they turned to an ash pile.

Landing roughly on safe ground, Honey panted against his chest. "Never...again..!"

"Trust me Honey...I'd rather burn in those flames...than tell C. Sonic I stole his cat-turned-cat girl girlfriend."

Choko nodded sagely. "The fire will kill you in a single cut scene. The depression from such an evil act will probably destroy the entire arcade."

* * *

The ground fell out beneath his feet and how big was this foking castle anyway? Sidestepping the incoming doom, he motioned for Choko and Honey to wait. He carefully stepped on the cobblestone pathway, and was rewarded with daggers flying at his head. Honey tackled him and Choko into the pool of green water he really didn't want to go into.

Surprisingly enough the water wasn't made of acid or Kool-Aid colored lava, but it was filled with an armada of water snakes. Choko lost her cool and murdered all of them with her sword, half-drowning because screaming underwater wasn't the best choice of action.

Pulling a panting and coughing Choko out of the mess, he watched the rest of the room crumble around him. Now where was that stupid door...Skrillex tumbled across a growing ravine to Honey's side, triggering the next room before some other improbable death could ax them. As Choko caught her breath and Honey dealt with embarrassing stretches in her leotard, the newly minted knight groaned; barely six levels in and he wanted to throw his lot in with the snakes.

* * *

Choko stared into the bubbling cauldron as Honey-chan and Skrillex-kun tried to bring out the next death trap. It roiled so cheerfully in the gloomy dungeon, so much like Diet Cola Mountain's cola hot springs that she relaxed by the comforting sound.

The cauldron then proceeded to boil over and drench half the room in an evil green potion demon, Skrillex-kun knocking over bottles that added to the chaos. But of course.

Honey-chan punched the offending demon in the face hard enough to blast him against the wall, the green froth evaporating with a sad gurgle. Choko wanted to feel bad for it had the cauldron not spawned an evil ether witch who grabbed the smallest Codebuster.

Choko gasped as she felt the game trigger a death scene, but then Skrillex-kun's eyes flashed and he beheaded the witch in a move that would make any Jedi proud. She hit the ground with a thud as triumphant trumpets played, and she accepted the helping hands offered. "How did you..."

"I said earlier that CD skipping was bad...but then again, when have we ever followed conventional game rules?"

* * *

Honey propped open the trap door. "I don't see any obvious threats yet, come on up." She regretted that statement once a weird purple monster with a sword came barreling at her, howling like a monkey in the madhouse that had become her existence.

Skrillex sliced it in half, spawning two more from a door that conveniently appeared. Sizing up the hopping baboon beasts, the trio decided to abscond from the ludicrous situation, and sprinted up the curving staircase. Two more greeted them halfway, snarling and waving swords too close to Choko's face, and Honey straightened her sleeves.

Flipping over Skrillex's head, she kicked the two down the pit to their left, their monkey screams fading away as she turned to face the groupies that wanted desperately to trigger their death scenes. Oh, they wanted to play? Honey may have been turned into a flimsy little cat girl but she was always ready to play!

Choko had to drag her up the stairs after she pulverized the enemies, calling at their purple poofs of disintegration, "And the next smart guy who only stares at my chest during battle is getting my foot up his animated arse!"

* * *

The three tumbled down the suddenly smooth hill, Skrillex catching them on the stairs before they could die in the pit waiting below. More foking tentacle beasts appeared and Skrillex let Choko and Honey deal with the offenders, because this was still the beginning of a very long game and he was sick of tentacle monsters!

Stalking up the stairs he fell on his face as the surface turned into a curve. Choko saved him from death, small hands clamped around his ponytail. Honey pushed them through the exit hole and Skrillex solemnly swore never to tug on her pigtails ever again, because that was a kind of pain on par with screwing up an easy song in front of all your friends.

* * *

They groaned as possessed weapons tried to murder them, because the thrill of being 2D had worn very thin. Choko batted the flying hunks of death out of their faces with her sword, and yelled over the din of clashing metal, "Can you skip us to the end, Sonny-kun?"

Skrillex-kun froze, fingers flashing white ever so briefly. "Theoretically I can, but think of the danger!" He dodged a flying anvil, wheezing, "I could crash the entire system!"

Honey-chan punched an evil blacksmith in the face, snarling in righteous cat girl fury, "Don't care, skip as far as you can! Doesn't this game mirror half of the levels anyway?!"

His eye twitched before the entire scene froze, Choko feeling something akin to a meat hook pulling on her navel. Before she could blink they landed roughly in a twisted hallway, a nasal-voiced evil lizard king swinging a scepter at their heads. "This is the end level?"

"Close but not quite. I folded the game scenes on themselves, so we're close to saving Princess Daphne and getting the hell out of this animated animal house."

"Glory to that!" Honey-chan gasped as the lizard king oogled her body and turned bright red before tackling him. "YOU WANT CHAOS, BIG BOY?! I'LL GIVE YOU CHAOS!"

Choko watched Honey-chan regain her honor through turning a drawing inside out, eyes wide with awe. She was so cool, no wonder her love life was going so well!

* * *

They entered a large hall, much like the nightmare version of Queen Vanellope's meeting hall, and they caught a glimpse of a blonde clenched in a large green fist flying through a door way. She cried out, "Save me!" before the door crashed shut.

"It's Daphne-hime! Let's get out of here!"

But before they could follow Choko's sound advice and bail, a knight in an evil version of Skrillex's armor appeared. He stabbed the ground with his sword and electricity flashed through the tiles. Choko squeaked and jumped onto Honey's back, causing Honey to jump onto Skrillex's back and he resisted the urge to sink into the floor and die.

Forcing carefree memories of playing hopscotch in Guitar Hero into the forefront of his brain, Skrillex hopped across the ground. It was easy, he just had to not touch the glowing blue lava and keep his friends from falling over and dying in this cursed game, he didn't know why he was freaking out so hard, he promised!

Tripping, he crashed onto the knight and crushed him under the combined Codebuster weight. That triggered the next level cut scene, and Skrillex shrugged; it was rude to ask about a lady's weight, much less two ladies, so he was just going to accept the win before Honey killed someone important.

* * *

"Just how big is this castle anyway?"

"I started wondering that a couple stages back, before I made the Laserdisc skip ahEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAA—"

They plummeted as the circular platform they stood on decided that being an elevator was more productive. Honey pinwheeled her arms, tail latching onto Choko's waist. "What are we supposed to do now?!"

The platform paused briefly at a rickety plank, but Choko pulled on Skrillex's hair before he could jump ship. "It's a trap! Ride it out!"

They fell like that for half an eternity, picking up speed as Choko grounded her heels into the platform. Honey and Skrillex held onto each other and wailed into the chaos, the music growing louder and louder as they approached their doom. Finally Choko licked her finger and held it up before yelling, "JUMP FOR YOUR LIFE!"

They dove onto the landing as the elevator platform continued on its merry way, quickly running into the doorway. Honey panted for breath, ears twitching with relief. "How did...you know?"

Choko brushed off her skirts and smiled too prettily for their situation. "Double stripes will do that to a girl. Now let's continue with this lovely game?"

* * *

The pathway was dark and lead up to a waterfall and Honey pouted, which was a sight way too cute for Skrillex's continued survival. "I don't wanna."

"Come on, we're almost to the boss level."

"But it's so obvious, only an idiot would keep walking forward!"

Skrillex sighed and grabbed onto her elbow, pulling her forward. "Truth be told, the hero of this game is pretty dumb for a knight's standard. If he can do it, we can to."

She clutched onto his arm and too cute, she was too attractive as a cat girl and he really needed a girlfriend before he got his face beaten in by the angry cast of Sonic the Fighters. That cheerful train of thought was derailed as they fell through the floor, landing in a barrel in a river of glowing purple water. "Is this more Kool-Aid?"

"It's Chemical Plant Zone come to haunt a SEGA girl's grave, that's what!"

They approached a cave with "Ye Boulders" printed on a sign and Skrillex really didn't want to go. He let Choko maneuver her way in front, the small girl narrowing her eyes. "Take the oars and I'll guide you through. Something tells me boulders are bad for codebusting duty."

And really, it should've been easy to avoid these giant boulders, but the game gave them about two seconds to react, and they didn't have the game avatar's immunity to fatigue. With much yelping and complaining about leg room, they traveled into the "Ye Rapids" cavern and Skrillex became convinced that if there was a god, he hated the Codebusters.

Shrieking like three four year old girls discovering that Minnie Mouse was a child murderess, they sailed down the orange waves with the grace of a dead pigeon. Honey looked ready to hurl over the edge of their barrel, but held it in because the orange water was gross as it was. "I wanna get off..."

"Just hold on hon, we're almost to the final dungeon..." They entered "Ye Whirlpools" and thank goodness for boring whirlpools instead of giant underwater tornadoes. Choko gently guided them through the green water into a swift tunnel, the barrel crashing against a tower. Quick reflexes saved them from drowning, and they climbed up the chain into the doorway. Skrillex valiantly held Honey's hair out of the way as her stomach regulated itself, muttering to Choko's worried expression, "This princess better be the greatest princess of all time, because none of us are living today down."

* * *

They finally appeared in the dragon's lair, which was a vast cavern filled with enough gold and riches to turn the most straitlaced of code masters into frantic kleptomaniacs. Biting their hands and pulling their hair in order to keep focus, they noticed the dragon sleeping on a pile of gold, Dirk the missing knight frozen in a battle stance off to the side, and Princess Daphne, dressed in a glorified bathing suit, in a sphere.

Skrillex stumbled into an awkward tower of treasure as his blood pressure spiked, unable to think beyond the smoldering blonde luxuriating in her sphere. She was hella worth it, so foking worth it because she was hotter than a thousand Honeys put together!

Choko dove to stop the falling tower from awakening the dragon and Honey smacked Skrillex with her tail, whispering harshly, "You choose now to be a feather-weight toddler with no motor skills? Snap out of it!"

"But hot hot hot hot hot!"

The dragon awoke with a plume of fire, Honey knocking them down behind a dune of golden coins. The princess moaned and the dragon went back to sleep, leaving Honey to strangle Skrillex. "No, not hot hot hot hot hot! Keep using your upstairs brain!" She glared at the sleeping princess, mumbling so Choko wouldn't hear, "And what the heck did they use for her character model, magazine girls?"

They sneaked up to the sphere, where Daphne was waiting for them with an expression that thankfully went over Choko's head. Between Honey's cat girl body and Skrillex falling hard for this strumpet, Honey was ready to shove her fist into the next inappropriate joke made around Choko's immediate area.

"Please save me!" Daphne struck a pose and oriented herself in her magic sphere. "The cage is locked, with the key! The dragon keeps it around his neck!" She began motioning with her entire body, voice breathless and so princess-like it put Princess Toadstool to shame. "To slay the dragon, use the magic sword!"

Skrillex flushed so darkly that Choko wondered if his brain had been replaced with a sweet seeker. Honey rolled her eyes and motioned at the sword. "Go save the playmate, Casanova."

"Hot hot hot..." The dragon woke up and flames erupted around them. "HOT!"

Honey grabbed Choko and pulled her behind Daphne's sphere, rolling her eyes as the princess gasped like a 40s film actress. "Choko, Skrill is distracted by the blonde. If we want out of this chaos, we gotta have a plan of attack..."

"Leave it to me, Honey-chan!" Choko skipped off as the dragon began chasing Skrillex around the lair, feet glowing as she teleported through cut scenes. It was out of turn to grab the magic sword before the game activated that sequence from the Laserdisc, it was totally unfair...she skidded under the dragon's legs and threw the sword into its heart, killing the beast in a flash of green as it landed on Skrillex. "Oh, I hope I didn't kill him..."

Dirk awoke from his frozen stance, eyes flashing as he sank to his knees. "Ah jeez, who defeated the dragon?"

He looked up and grinned at Choko. "And what's this? Another fair princess?" Honey coughed beside the sphere and Dirk's eyes popped out of his head. "And a smokin' hot cat girl!"

"Trust me buddy, you don't want any of this." Skrillex dug himself out of the gold and patted Choko's head, cracking his back. Blushing fiercely as Princess Daphne gave him a come-hither look, he let Dirk save the girl and send the game back to the title screen. "But if you could be so kind as to tell me what's wrong with your game, I won't tell her you said that."

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

Vanellope watched Marzipanne braid Choko's hair into a Dutch crown, Crumbelina fashioning medieval-inspired dresses for all the Sugar Rush racers. Once the youngest Codebuster admitted that she liked the fashion from Dragon's Lair—with the very specific exception of Honey's appearance, for some reason—the fashionista from their roster had demanded a fashion tea party. Vanellope looked down at her beautifully tiered dress and smirked; she wasn't going to complain if she got free clothes out of the deal.

Skrillex had explained how the Laserdisc skipped over Dirk completing an animation, trapping the poor knight until they managed to save him and his questionable love interest. Now the DJ was drawing on a gingerbread table, adding what looked like cat girls and princesses and knights to the already impressive battle scene. Vanellope didn't want to ask, as Honey looked murderous when King Candy had mentioned wanting to adopt a cat.

Said Honey had left a while ago, ranting about female objectification and something called BST and Vanellope had the feeling that there was a blue hedgehog out there about to go on the date of his life. Snorting, she let her idiot Codebusters be and headed towards the bakery; if she was bringing medieval style to Sugar Rush, she needed a cart with at least three battering rams attached.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY CRAP THAT WAS LONG. Seriously, I wanted to do every scene from Dragon's Lair but I got so tired, and the story was dragging so much...
> 
> Dragon's Lair is famous for being a game based on a Laserdisc, the giant predecessor of the modern DVD. It relied on quick time reactions, triggering cut scenes depending if you succeeded in the story or died a hilarious death. They were notorious for malfunctioning due to having to skip around the disc so much during game play, which is why Skrillex was reluctant to cheat earlier in the adventure. This style of game play came back in the 90s with the SEGA CD add-on for the SEGA Genesis, so Honey knew a bit about that style of game.
> 
> Don Bluth was the head animator, and you need to see Princess Daphne in action. According to an interview, her model was based off the girls in Playboy magazines, and it shows.
> 
> As Honey was the eldest girl, she was reformatted into a sexualized cat girl, which is a dig at the Sonic OVA which featured Sera the Cat Girl/Love Interest Extraordinaire. Choko got turned into a figure similar to Princess Eilonwy from The Black Cauldron, the black sheep of the Disney canon. Skrillex got turned into a knight because just imagine that little bastard in a suit of black armor, it's adorable.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter! Especially the boring crap at the beginning, because I have lots planned for our darling Codebusters :D


	15. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and affirm why they are the Codebusters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look, it's Chapter 15! Let's add on extra crap to the arcade and screw with the dynamics some more! :D
> 
> Also, I'm finally done brain storming for the sequels to this story, which means less obsessing over Flavor Spectrum and more obsessing over Action Replay. Rejoice.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Sugar Rush (Disney), Sonic the Fighters (SEGA; did you know it was called Sonic Championship in the US? I've been using the version I grew up with which was the wrong one...oops), DJ Hero 2 (Activision), and neither Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time nor Kingdom Hearts (Nintendo and Square Enix with credit to Disney Inertactive).

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey relaxed into the bench, stretching aching legs into the air. The arcade had been filled with kids on summer break, all ready to fight over who got to pulverize Dr. Robotnik and bring business to her beloved console. And it felt so good to forget Codebuster drama for just a minute and actually hang out with her coworkers outside of questionable game environments.

Choko's hair was down from her immaculate bun, sheets of red-pink hair swishing as the excitable girl babbled about the latest gossip from Sugar Rush. Granted, it was gossip about kids too young for the really juicy stuff like crushes and murder plots, but Honey was surprised to find out that shy Bubblebetty kid pushed Taffyta into a taffy swamp for calling her chubby. She didn't know the girl had it in her.

And Skrillex was playing away on his laptop, looking too happy for a guy whose job was to make glorious music that could blow out speakers. He was still clued into Choko's tales, sagely advising the candy brat to send persipan to Marzipanne in apology for accidentally eating fruit from her hat. Honey idly wondered what fruit made of sugar tasted like—did it taste like orange candy or just candy?—before flipping his side cut for the principle of the action.

Avoiding a retaliation punch, she watched the crowds mill around GCS; Leia was arm in arm with Princess Peach from Mario Kart and giggling about girly things, M. Sonic and his Tails were running into Burger Time to probably eat their weight in chili dogs, and some weird kid in oversized shoes was looking pretty lost in the sea of game characters. Feeling bad for him, Honey motioned Choko to pause her tale about Rancis getting his head stuck in a dishwasher and walked over to the kid. "Looking for a certain game?"

"My friends and I are actually looking for people." He hefted the giant key he pulled out of hammerspace onto his shoulder, spiky brown hair bouncing with the sudden weight. "Do you know who the Codebsuters are?"

Honey pulled out her Action Replay, grinning as the kid's bright blue eyes went wide. "You're talking to one of them. Something wrong with your game?"

He nodded and pulled her into the crowd. Choko and Skrillex, probably wondering why some random stranger was stealing their friend, got their stuff together and followed Honey into the heart of GCS. There two blonde haired...elves of some sort, one a princess in pink and the other an incredibly hot warrior in green, stood nervously. Spiky haired kid ran up to them and grinned as Choko and Skrillex gasped. "I found the Codebsuters!"

"But they're—"

"How did—"

"Ah jeez, I'm sorry for being rude." Spiky haired kid grinned, pointing a thumb towards himself. "I'm Sora from Kingdom Hearts and these two are Princess Zelda and Link from Ocarina of Time. Our games have a slight problem, do you think you can help?"

Honey clapped her hands to change into her Codebuster uniform, smiling despite the sad knowledge that her down time was being taken over again. "The Codebsuters are here to help, no matter the game and game console."

* * *

After getting clearance from a very flustered Surge Protector, they left the power strip for the arcade games and headed into the electric wiring of Mr. Litwak's Family Fun Center. Reaching out to let strands of purple and gold twist around her fingers, Honey had to force her mind to stay focused on the task at hand. Noting how they turned away from the tunnels leading to the computer room, Sora led the Gummi Ship—and wasn't that a name begging to be used in Sugar Rush—further into electronic Narnia until they finally ended up in another game station.

Helping Choko and Skrillex out of the cramped ship, Honey's eyes grew wide as she saw a Sonic much like her own Sonic nap on one of the benches. Beyond him were Mario and Luigi racing Yoshis down the main way, Lara Croft and Samus entering a terminal called "Famicom", three different Star Foxes arguing in a corner...Honey leaned against the ship. "What room is this?"

"Mr. Litwak remodeled an old office to host console games for birthday parties." Zelda glided over to the arcade game characters, smiling kindly at their dumb expressions. "They were such a hit that now the room is open to everyone during business hours."

"It's a great idea if you ask me." Sora jumped out of the cockpit, waving his key around with his arm motions. "An arcade by itself with such awesome games is fine, an arcade with games and a computer room can keep it from going under, but an arcade with the whole spectrum of game consoles? That's perfect business."

Skrillex laughed, patting Sora on the back. "I like this kid. That's exactly what Toby Litwak said when he installed me into my own game." They walked down the power strip, Choko squealing and waving at racers from Sugar Rush 2000. "You can go swap stories with them after our job's done."

"And here we are." They stopped in front of two ports called "PS2" and "Nintendo 64". "Our home games are in those two; we managed to stop the problem from spilling out into the actual consoles, but we need your help." Zelda took Link's hand, easing his stern expression. "Rumors always spread down the power lines, even if we're so isolated from the rest of the rooms, and if the Codebusters could save an arcade game..."

Honey shared a glance with her friends, then nodded. "What exactly are we going up against?"

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

"That."

That turned out to be heartless rampaging across the landscape of Hyrule, turning the normally lush landscape into a nightmare realm. Even Poes and Stalfos were running around screaming, trying not to get absorbed by the evil.

Honey started ranting about how enemy AI was the worst thing to have ever been created while Choko started interviewing the Poe Sisters about the carnage and spread of the heartless. Skrillex pulled out his headphones, noting how the soundtrack of the game was glitching and trying to access themes that didn't exist. "So how exactly did this happen?"

"We figure a curious heartless ran off and got lost in this game before multiplying." Zelda shuddered as Link saved them from being attacked by a giant glitching heartless, rubbing her arms. "We haven't heard from Young Link or Zelda since the infestation began, but hopefully if they're overwhelmed they won't be deleted."

"That makes sense." Choko pulled out a map from the pause screen and started marking the areas of devastation. "The Forest Temple and surrounding Lost Woods, Deku Tree and Kokiri Forest are covered in heartless; Beth-san says that she and her sisters barely got out in time, but their friend Saria-chan was dragged down into the darkness."

They all took a moment to mourn over a terrible death like that, and Choko swallowed, hands shaking slightly. "Because of the natural darkness from the Shadow Temple and the Kakariko Well, everything above this field has been taken over. Zelda-hime and Link-san were in Kingdom Hearts at the time of the great surge of heartless, but they're the only ones accounted."

Link held Zelda close as the Codebusters took in that detail, Sora sputtering about any other survivors. "The desert areas by Gerudo Valley were taken over but Beth-san says the Gerudo 泥棒女性 (dorobou josei) escaped into a Great Fairy's Fountain. We must assume that all dungeons and temples are compromised because of the natural darkness here..."

"Not entirely true." Beth floated forward, eyes narrow slits in the darkness. "From what I've been told, the heartless are repelled by a force within the Water Temple..."

Link and Skrillex groaned, the former dropping his head onto Zelda's shoulder. "That's great, the most evil place in all of Ocarina of Time is the safe zone." Sighing, Skrillex eyed the heartless swarms with pure hatred because how dare enemies from his favorite game make him go to such a notorious time-stealer? Nodding at Link, he pulled out his lightsaber, code flashing behind his eyes. "Choko, you're viciously protective; I need you and the Poes to keep Princess Zelda safe at a Fairy Fountain of some kind."

"Hai, Sonny-kun!" Choko turned her pocky chopsticks into pocky daggers, forming a protective moving barrier around the princess, who began to glow with power.

"Honey, you're the heavy-hitter; can you and Sora try and reclaim some of the land here?"

Honey grinned, wings popping out of her back as she took a cheering Sora and flew into the fray.

Skrillex turned to Link, and held out a hand. "That leaves us to go and figure out why the Water Temple is so anti-heartless. Ready to save the day again?"

Link grabbed onto his hand. "Hya!"

* * *

"Ok guys, just keep your Action Replays at hand in case I need to call you bastards." Skrfillex fiddled with his glowing blue cartridge with his left hand as he punched a heartless with his right. "Let me just...ok, they now function as walkie talkies. Gotta love god mode."

" _Roger that, hipster breath. Currently committing gross genocide with approval of Sora."_

Skrillex turned to see Link picking off heartless with a slew of light arrows, face dead serious as he thinned the ranks with giant glowing arrows of doom. Deciding that wouldn't do, Skrillex pulled out a stereo set and /soundtrack select Town. The heartless looked at each other as the track began to play, the serious facade in Link's face cracking as he killed the enemy invasion to perky music.

The last of the swarm evaporated into black dust and the two guys giggled into their palms, before composing themselves as another swarm appeared. Pulling out his lightsaber, Skrillex wondered if his weapon of choice could also be super effective in the doom department. Poking a heartless with the tip of his sword, he watched as the wretched thing sizzled and imploded. "Awesome."

" _Are you there, Sonny-kun?"_

"Loud and clear, babychild." Skrillex watched Link's back, slicing down those ballsy enough to take on the Hero of Time.

" _So we escorted Zelda-hime into a Great Fairy's Fountain—not one with the Gerudo women, but one filled with black fairies. Are there supposed to be black fairies in this game?"_

"Kill as necessary, those are more in line with Majora's Mask than Ocarina of Time." Skrillex whistled as Link, out of arrows, pulled out the Master Sword and span like a top of glowing heroic death. If there was only a girl Link who liked short guys with big noses...

" _Ooh, they're heartless transformed by the pure love and magic of the fairies! They've sworn loyalty to our cause and showed us how to teleport to other fountains with Zelda-hime's power! Can I keep them?"_

Skrillex allowed himself to be thrown by Link into a pile of heartless, using his lightsaber like a glow stick dancer at a rave. "Only if you think Mr. Waddles won't mind."

" _He'll love them! Roger that, Choko out."_

Skrillex admired the carnage he dealt, kicking a crawling heartless in the face because screw that guy for invading and polluting a game. Nodding at Link, he saw Lake Hylia in the distance and /soundtrack select CUSTOM TRACK Legend of Zelda Theme Remix. They walked into the area to the most heroic song ever and Link finally grinned and swaggered like a true hero; mission accomplished.

* * *

Lake Hylia was indeed free of heartless, and enemies that would normally trip over themselves to kill the good guys were gratefully leading them to the Water Temple. One of them, a Skull Kid, trembled by the water. "You gotta save my friends, the ones who let me play ocarinas with them."

Link did an affirmative gesture—Skrillex really needed to get Honey to teach him how to speak non-speak—and Skrillex cocked his head. "Do you mean Young Link and Saria?"

Skull Kid nodded, bones rattling. "Them and the Kokiri are different now, all black with evil yellow eyes..."

Skrillex frowned. Now they had to deal with Antiforms of kids who knew combat in between culling the heartless and figuring out where the heck they were spawning from. Sighing, he followed Link into the water. "I'm assuming that I'm going to drown in this temple a lot, which is bad since I don't regenerate. Have an idea?"

Link tapped his chin, before pulling out his Zora tunic. Skrillex ran a hand over the cloth and /cloneobject Zora Tunic. Now they both stood proudly in blue, Skrillex upgrading their boots to sink but not take so foking long underwater. The Water temple loomed below the water, and Skrillex squeezed his Action Replay. "This is gonna suck."

They entered the Water Temple, and Skrillex compared the soundtrack's strings to the screams of frustration imprinted in his character bio. "I don't need you to be on the look out for suspicious things that are repellent to heartless, right?"

Link smirked and led him to the right, sinking to the bottom of the temple so they could drain the water, find the map, yadda yadda yadda. Fingers itching to just auto-complete the temple, he forced himself to follow the blonde hero, noting that Ruto was missing from her designated spot. "Maybe she got eaten?" They shared a shrug and floated to the top, getting the map and playing the ocarina to drain the water.

" _Hey Skrill, you got a second?"_

"Yeah, what's the problem?" Skrillex lit a set of torches with his lightsaber as Link searched for pots to kill for more arrows.

" _We met a bunch of freaky dudes with glowing eyes by the castle. Sora says that they're actually NPCs and whatnot, and we need to exorcise them of the heartless before we can reset the game code."_

"I heard that Young Link and the kids from Kokiri Forest also got infected." The temple was devoid of monsters, small keys and chests just appearing in rooms. Link looked very unnerved, and the wide, empty spaces of the Water Temple made Skrillex's skin itch.

" _Sora, can you—thanks. Did you find the source of the Heartless-Be-Gone? Sora says—nice key swing, dude!—that he can equip that power to his keyblade and finish off the spawn point for the heartless."_

"We're working on it." A whirlpool added interference to Skrillex's cartridge, and he needed to stab something. Stupid lifeless temple.

" _Well keep us posted. Honey out. Sora, have you ever dive bombed a giga heartless before?"_

Skrillex held onto Link as they swung up to a platform bearing a triforce symbol; between this and Dragon's Quest he was considering taking lessons from Pitfall. Link made sure not to drop him, which Skrillex was very grateful for because he was a big baby and bruised easily, and watched the water rise to their level. "Going down."

Skrillex blew bubbles as they descended and screw the Water Temple for making him have to pee in a world where nobody had that function. Link absconded to go get the compass and Skrillex wondered if his lightsaber worked underwater. After burning the crap out of his hands and hair, he decided to never be so stupid ever again.

Yet despite the annoying platforming and the heartless apocalypse raging outside, Skrillex missed the enemy life in the temple. There was just too little noise, Link's non-speech not helping, and Skrillex was a creature of sound—there couldn't not be things making a ruckus! Staring at a tense and twitchy Link out of the corner of his eye, the Codebuster pulled out his iPod. "What do you know about cheesy Euro-pop?"

Evidently not enough, because if "Mr. Wonderful" was enough to make Link fall to the floor laughing, Skrillex was going to have to stage a concert for the entire home console room. But he laughed with his friend and filled the empty slots in the Water Temple with life, and that was good enough. "Hey, isn't this the sub-boss room?"

They opened the door to the murky room filled with fog and the creepy tree, but they jumped when Dark Link appeared from the ground. "Hey, I thought everyone was gone!"

"That's because I threw everyone out after the heartless ate my fiancee." Dark Link crossed his arms, before snorting. "And nice choice of music, Prince Zelda. But may I ask how you're able to do that...and who's the short guy?"

"Long story short, I'm from another room in the arcade and I'm here to figure out what's repelling the heartless from this area." Skrillex ignored the dig at his height because it was pointless asking a bad guy with that much attitude to respect the vertically challenged.

"Hmm, Ruto was talking about rumors of a team of code masters." Dark Link stretched, unsheathing his sword in the process. "But back to the bigger problem. Turns out I'm a higher level of evil than those heartless, and once I made my displeasure at Ruto being turned into a demon known they ran off." He paused, then grinned with bright white teeth in a blank gray face. "But I'll be glad to help get rid of these bastards."

Skrillex and Link gulped and felt bad for the reign of terror they were about to unleash.

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey cheered as Sora brought fire down upon the heartless outside Hyrule Castle. Maybe she was getting high off of the black plumes of evaporated evil, but she was really enjoying having an all out brawl with a guy who could bring down lightning from nowhere as easily as bashing a heartless in the face with his keyblade.

Dodging an attack, she plowed through a group of blobs into a bunch of pots, earning health and monies for her troubles. Admiring the rupees—she bet she could get them turned into jewelry—she turned to see Sora being blasted into a wall. "You feeling ok?"

"I'm feeling great! This is awesome!" And it was, ignoring the horror story of a kingdom being turned evil by an lifeless sea of darkness. The Antiforms of a few NPCs came lumbering forward and Sora cut them down, freeing the NPCs from the darkness inside their hearts. "Darn, I should've invited Riku and the other guys here, but they were at their knitting club tonight..."

Honey was about to tease Sora for having such lame friends, but considered her own cast members; no one who was associated with Nack "I cried for three days over my zine subscription being delayed" the Weasel and Bark "Has a shrine to Rainbow Dash in my closet" the Polar Bear has to room to tease over something so productive as knitting.

Eventually they fought their way to the castle grounds, heartless and Anti-guards swarming the places like ants on a picnic lunch. And like ants on a picnic lunch, they deserved to be destroyed, so Honey tore a heartless a new mouth across its belly. Sora pulled out another keyblade and dove in like a god of war, and Honey shook her head; there was something about heroes from a home console game that was just so attractive.

Taking a move from her much-more attractive boyfriend, she span into a group of heartless and ripped them to shreds, punching and kicking without end. The darkness evaporated over her fists to choke at her throat, and she was getting serious void-vibes from the heartless swarm. Pushing those dark thoughts of out her mind, she yelped when her Action Replay went off.  _"Skrillex to psycho battle girl, are you with me?"_

"Honey to annoying dupstep hipster, you got my attention Sonny." She drop kicked a heartless before he could sneak up on Sora.

" _We found the source of the heartless repellant, and we're warping to a Fairy Fountain to meet with Choko and the other girls. Where are you?"_

"At the castle. It looks like all the heartless are coming from this point." She gazed up at the very evil clouds spinning around the castle, globs of darkness rising from the walls. "Oh yeah, we found the spawn point."

Static crackled over her Action Replay.  _"We're teleporting to your location now. Skrillex out."_

With a flash of light the other members of their party showed up, Zelda equipping Link with light arrows so he could genocide some of the heartless. Choko and the Poe Sisters smiled and waved, surrounded by both light and dark fairies, and a group of Gerudo pirates ran into the chaos and struck down a huge swath of heartless before they could think to run away.

Sora looked into the far distance, where a large group of Antiforms were silently approaching. "Did you guys bring the source? We're going to need my keyblade to take out all those Antiforms and stop the darkness from spreading."

"I'm right here." Dark Link stepped forward, and all the enemies in his immediate area scurried off to be killed by Link and the Gerudo. "Let's get this done, brats."

"Right then. Dark Link, sir, I need you and the princesses to hold your hands over my keyblades."

"Wait, princesses?" Honey cocked her head; unless Skrillex counted as a princess, there was someone missing.

"Yeah, Zelda and Choko." Sora watched the assorted team blink, Choko tugging on her uniform. "You two are Princesses of Heart, right? I mean, I guess not technically since you're not from my game, but neither of you two have darkness in your hearts, so the same rules apply for what I need."

Honey nodded. "Princess Zelda, who uses light powers and is super holy across her franchise, and Choko, the girl took on death and came back as pure as ever, would definitely be Princesses of Heart or whatever. Keyblade of power now?"

A blushing Choko and Zelda flanked Dark Link, their hands interlinking over the offered keyblades. They began to glow, light mixing with dark, and the keyblades morphed into one. It was a double edged steel keyblade etched with glowing strands of blue light, the teeth composed of pure gold. A tiny triforce made of dango was the keychain, and when Sora gently grasped it, it mirrored into two. Honey breathed, "What kind of keyblade is that?"

"It's made of one part pure darkness and two parts pure light, and I think it can defeat anything." Sora swung them through the air, and the splitting wind created lightning that sounded like music. "I'll call it the Majestic Thunder."

"That key's about to get some action!" Honey pushed a heartless out of attacking range as the Antiforms rushed forward, lifeless yellow eyes glowing into theirs. Two small forms led the attack, and Honey could only watch as Link yelled in outrage and led the defensive attack.

It turns out that angry people made the best melee fighters. The Gerudo women were angry for being ousted from their homes, the Poe Sisters were furious about their friend Saria being possessed, Dark Link was outraged about the loss of his fiancee Ruto, and whoever thought it was a good idea to take over Young Link and Zelda, who were like little siblings to big Link, was going to die a very painful death. Between them and random field enemies joining in the fight for their home's liberation, the Antiforms didn't stand a chance against Sora and his volunteer army.

Honey ducked as a slayed Antiform's darkness soared over her head, the electric glow of the Majestic Thunder making its way towards the castle. Zelda cheered as Young Link and Zelda were saved from the darkness, petite Kokiri warriors avenging their brief stint as enemies. Choko pointed at a figure high up in a tower. "That's the source off all the darkness in this game!"

Zelda and Link looked at each other, before the princess remarked dryly, "We shoud've known the heartless would have been hijacked by Ganon."

"What?" Honey didn't understand why Zelda and Link were laughing, but as long as he kept slicing up enemies with his Master Sword and she kept overriding her code and shooting light beams into the madness, it was fine.

Sora broke through into the castle and began to climb up the sides. Choko looked up from where she was directing dark fairies to siphon off darkness from the Antiforms, "Sora-kun! Can you even access levels that way?"

"With this keyblade I can! Look!" And Honey had to sit down and laugh because somehow, the Majestic Thunder was also a functioning Action Replay that allowed him to bypass the castle dungeon and drag a large mass of darkness directly down to their level. "This is definitely our guy!"

"FEAR ME, FOR I AM THE TRUE GANON, LORD AND MASTER OF—"

A green haired girl threw a glass bottle at his head. "GET HIM!"

The foreigners to Hyrule stood back and watched as every able-bodied man, woman, child of all sizes and racers beat the crap out of Anti-Ganon into a green splattered pulp. Once they were done blowing off revenge steam Sora skipped over and bashed him over the head with the Majestic Thunder. A large crackle of blue energy shot into the sky and transformed the entire landscape, darkness evaporating from the game as everyone cheered.

Honey looked at Skrillex and Choko. "The kid knows his way around an Action Replay."

Choko hugged her fairies close. "Can we keep him too?"

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

"...and then I broke the lock on our memories that I put when I got rid of Virus-Van, and it's just been smooth sailing since."

The amazing technicolor population of Sugar Rush began talking all at once, demanding more details on how their fellow franchise game was faring. Vanellope was quietly freaking out because there was another version of her sitting at the tea table, and Choko needed to apologize for discovering all these extra arcade rooms.

Vanellope was hosting a complete arcade wide party in her castle, people from all known games—and she meant all this time, darn it!—milling around and getting acquainted across the gaming spectrum. Some arcade characters by the door to the home console room had known there was an extra room, but they had assumed it was the computer room. Well, now Vanellope knew what King Candy always said about assumptions.

Said King Candy was organizing transportation between the three rooms, various people relaying information to their local Surge Protectors and swapping tips on how to keep rowdy kids from game jumping across the electricity mainframe.

She spotted people she knew in the sea of new faces. The M. and C. Sonics were talking excitedly with a group of Sonics that span the ranges between their models, too hyper and blue for their own good. Felix was having a serious discussion with an old man in a quieter corner, before hugging his companion and crying into his shoulder. The incredibly scary Dark Link and his fiancee Ruto were laughing with Donkey Kong and Pauline, instead of watching the youngest game characters like they were supposed to. All these faces, Vanellope was getting kinda dizzy trying to name them all for Nilla Beanson's notepad, but then she saw her favorite pink-head and smiled.

After spending a good deal of time talking with Choko 2000, Choko had returned to talk in a huddle with the Codebusters, Sora, Princess Leia and Bob. They all came to an agreement and approached Vanellope's throne once the Sugar Rush 2000 racers ran off to mingle and be annoying somewhere else. "You licorice losers have something to tell me?"

Skrillex came forward, motioning towards Sora's giant keyblade. "Sora helped us reset Ocarina of Time with his Majestic Thunder keyblade, which is a functioning Action Replay. Between him, Leia's knowledge of dummied out content and Bob's indestructability...we think there should be another set of Codebusters. I mean," he threw his arms out wide, "look at how many games are in this arcade. What if two go down at the same time? What if we get disconnected during a black out and need to fend for ourselves? They're willing, we're willing, but we need you to sign off on us."

Vanellope considered the proposition. It wouldn't do to ignore the facts he presented, and the Codebusters had done more for uniting the entire arcade than anyone else had since the place opened. She smiled; what kind of queen would willingly let her people and the people of other games suffer for nothing? "I'll talk to the Surges after the party. Are you guys willing to share the glory?"

Skrillex smirked, Honey snorted, and Choko flat out giggled. "Oh Vanellope-heika, if we were in it just for the glory, we would've bailed back in Super Monkey Ball."

* * *

"Here are your Action Replay cartridges. Sora, you have one in your Majestic Thunder—speaking of which, did that eliminate your other keyblades?"

"Nah, I just regenerated them and integrated this one as its own weapon. The directions in this thing are super helpful."

"Does this jumpsuit look right to you?"

"Hmm, we need to get you a larger size Leia-hime, you've grown some since I last saw you. Have you been working out?"

"And you're sure this won't disappear if I explode?"

"I'm pretty sure, I had Bean try and blow it up all night and the fabric stayed stable."

"...are we all ready?"

"...I think we are."

The two Codebuster teams stood facing each other, decked in gray and red and smiles too big to contain on their faces. Linking arms, they walked into GCS, ready to keep all of the arcade running and maybe have some fun on the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 泥棒女性 (dorobou josei): literally thief women. As one of the enemies in OoT are the "Gerodu thieves", it made sense for Choko to take that literally.
> 
> And we are at the halfway point of Action Replay! There's a second squad of Codebusters (Sora, Leia and Bob) present, but this story is about our favorite trio, so don't fear for a sudden perspective shift.
> 
> As explained, the heartless from Kingdom Hearts got itself lost in Ocarina of Time and managed to sneak attack Ganon. As the source (I officially have overused this phrase) of evil in this game—although not necessarily evil himself—he became Anti-Ganon and started spawning infinite heartless into Hyrule. Once they got to the Shadow Temple and the Bottom of the Well, the creepeiest and darkest places ever, they exploded and got everywhere. But once Anti-Ganon was destroyed, the heartless were eliminated.
> 
> It may seem like a stretch to include a home console game room in an arcade, but this is Litwak's Family Fun Center, which entails more than the average James Games for game selection. Not to mention Toby Litwak/Sora's logic: now that Mr. Litwak has all the game bases covered, even allowing outside games for the game and home console rooms, he has ensured that his business will never dry up.
> 
> Also, I once went to an arcade with a home console room and spent too much of my life playing Mario Kart Double Dash. Effing love that game.
> 
> If anything confused you here (heartless, Princess of Heart, Water Temple, etc.) GO AND PLAY THOSE TWO GAMES. At the very least look them up, because those games are BIG DEAL games.
> 
> The "custom track" that Skrillex plays can be found here: you tube dot com slash watch ?v= UOa4t XG4EQo
> 
> Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and all the little jokes and lampshade hanging I threw in there!


	16. Xtreme E-Z Livin' 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Xtreme E-Z Livin' 2 and halt a zombie apocalypse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! Last time, I introduced a home console room and a back-up team of Codebusters that aren't the focus of this story but are important for later stuff and stuff. Also, I finally watched the stuff from E3—even though it's been like what, a month?—and WTF NEW SMASH BROS WII U 3DS WII FIT TRAINER CLASSIC MEGA MAN WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS?
> 
> But I digress. We're heading into more familiar territory, but not necessarily well-known territory. Or maybe everyone knows all about this game, idk, I'm just trying to write a good fanfic here.
> 
> This chapter has less action and more Vanellope than I planned, but I really need to start getting this story rolling. After all, if chapters 10 and 15 were important, then chapter 20 is the show stopper :P
> 
> Disclaimer: I'm not these people: Disney (Sugar Rush, Xtreme E-Z Livin' 2), SEGA (Sonic the Fighters) or Activision (DJ Hero 2)

**Choko's POV**

* * *

Yawning to the cotton candy heavens, Choko relaxed in the seat of her upgraded Codemobile. After the Star Wars mess she'd been plotting to completely redesign her mode of code busting transport, but training the new Codebuster team had taken up quite a bit of her after work hours. And while it was fun being a kickin' sensei to her pupils and making new friends, it was hard work teaching why it was a bad idea to run into a code well willy-nilly.

Sora-kun was shaping up to be a fine leader with his deep-set principles of honor and courage, and Bob-kun was an enthusiastic font of all knowledge, but they had traces of Leeroy Jenkins in their code. Luckily, Leia-hime was both diplomatic and unafraid to use physical discipline to keep her friends in line, and Choko sent them off to their first mission in House of the Dead with high hopes. They returned victorious and only half covered in grime, and the new team of Codebusters was earning their own reputation as a top-notch group of code masters.

Now she was waiting for the all-clear to go and pick up her own team mates and head over to a client's game before her play date with Mee Mee-chan and Roll-chan started. Mr. Litwak-sama himself had sat down to play their story mode at the end of the arcade day, and she prided herself in being a top tier boss; not only did it give her time to finish her cart, but being a bad guy for a little while was lots of fun. It certainly gave her a rush unlike eating a giant pack of Nutella pocky.

Vanellope-heika got a thumbs up from a marshmallow camera man, and stretched. "That's the end of the day guys. Got some objectives for you candy brats...Crumbelina, some girls from The Sims 2 are inviting you over to their game to talk fashion; Taffyta, your candy reps are complaining about irrigation laws in the swamps, you need to tell them to stuff it; King Gramps and I have a tea party with heads from the arcade...all the former palette swaps are requested to meet with Mortal Kombat fighters and talk about originality; and Choko, you're headed out to Xtreme E-X Livin' 2. Everyone else scram."

Powering up her cart, Choko took off towards the exit, Mr. Waddles oinking contentedly in his seat. She had upgraded his code to be more sturdy—she didn't want a stray glitch attack wiping out her favorite pig!—and patted his diamond hard head, whistling her boss theme into the echoing cord of her game. Skrillex-kun and Honey-chan were waiting by the go-karts, discussing the pros and cons of shampooing every day as compared to every week with cleansing conditioner.

"I'm telling you Sonny, even your hair type would appreciate the new formula I pawned off M. Amy. Just running it through the cleaners every day strips it off its healthy oils."

"Well, I'll think about it; I need to talk to Rancis on how it'll interact with the flugger oil serum..."

Choko giggled because her coquettish Japanese character programming found boys discussing proper beauty styling most amusing, and got a smack upside the head by the resident DJ. Acknowledging that she deserved that, she let her friends get settled and drove into GCS. "What does anyone know about Xtreme E-Z Livin' 2?"

"Well, it's an arcade port of the same game, which is incidentally in the computer room." Skrillex-kun started counting on his fingers, eyes fixed on a faraway point. "It's the third game in its series, it runs on a popularity currency, the main goal is do whatever feels good even if it's not necessarily legal, and I think there's even a street racing mini-game."

Choko tightened her grip on the steering wheel; she was a connoisseur of all races, and that sounded like fun. "Do you think the mini-game bugged out? Because I'd gladly volunteer for fixing that mess."

Honey-chan ruffled her hair, probably grinning like the Cheshire Cat in the back seat. "The poor glitch wouldn't last a second against you." Honey-chan looked out the side of the cart, tugging on a pig tail. "But it does bring up the question of what went wrong in this game. Tails said that some guy ran out frothing at the mouth around closing time, demanding the Codebusters show up. Had to get sedated by Dr. Mario, I wish I could've seen that."

Skrillex-kun leaned forward as they entered the port for E-Z, muttering, "If it's a rabies virus infestation I'm calling in the newbies."

To their surprise, nothing was wrong graphics-wise. The sea was still blue, the pristine beach stretching on forever, and none of the buildings were pixelated Eldritch abominations. Hesitantly stepping out the cart, Choko watched Skrillex analyze the soundtrack, tilting her head as he announced that nothing was wrong there. "That's strange..." Turning towards the row of buildings, she called out, "Someone called for the Codebusters?"

A trashcan falling over was their only warning as a frenzied mob of frothing, snarling beach goes began to swarm from the doors and windows of the beach side high-rises. Mr. Waddles blasted them back with his liquorice lasers as the Codebusters piled back into the car, cookie tires squealing as they took off.

Skrillex-kun gasped, clutching his chest. "Sweet kitty flipping Havok Engine on a pixy stick, when I was joking about rabies I didn't expect this game to call me out!"

* * *

The beach was crawling with psychotic zombies, all thrashing and raving and oozing disturbing amounts of drool from wide open mouths. Choko wondered if they'd all been stung by poisonous honey bees from Sour Apple-chan's stage, but had to cut that headcanon short when a car rammed the Codemobile. "Scatter my Skittles, what's wrong with these people?!"

Honey-chan began beating the enemy zombies in the face, dodging fists filled with broken martini glasses and surfboard chunks. "Everyone in this game's been infected with a...I don't know, a rage virus or something!"

"Don't let them bite you!" Skrillex-kun tugged on his hair, dislodging the party girl trying to eat it. "That's how the disease spreads, first through blood then biting then the air!"

Choko felt her hands begin to sweat. An air-borne virus altering the mindsets of NPCs would devastate normal game play, and if this situation spilled out of E-Z, not even the expanded Codebuster core could stop it from unplugging every game in the arcade!

Mr. Waddles blasted rabid sorority girls off their hood and Choko hard-baked her resolve. She would not let this glitch hurt her friends, she was a code master darn it! In this moment, this was her only job, and she wasn't the penultimate boss for petty reasons.

"I don't know about viruses, but I do know that for each sickness there's a cure. To save this game we need to reverse engineer the virus into an antidote before the zombies go critical." Choko rammed her Codemobile into a building, bricks and glass creating a barrier against the horde. "Sonny-kun, I don't suppose you can manipulate the code matrix to do so?"

Skrillex-kun clutched his Action Replay, dark eyes glowing blue. "We're going to need a sample before I can properly dissect the virus. And it'll take a while; if I get distracted during the process I'll screw myself over, so I need total immersion."

"Then it's settled." Honey-chan cuddled Mr. Waddles close, a delicate fang popping out of her grin. "While Sonny plays Dr. Frankenstein and gets us a cure, we'll play defend the castle and keep the zombies from invading out space." Said zombies were climbing over the barrier, blank-minded rage pouring from their jerky movements. "All we need to do if find a proper castle."

Choko backed out the Codemobile, fingers dancing over her pocky dashboard. "Leave that to me. I did want to try out that mini-game after all." Ramping up a collapsed kiosk over the piling beach zombies, she shot down the boardwalk, sunlight glittering off the letters of her precious cart. Oh no, there wasn't going to be any casualties of any kind today, and these drooling excuses of proper NPCs didn't hold a candle to horrors she'd seen through.

Slamming on the brakes, she drifted into an alleyway, hitting the golden button by Mr. Waddles. The cart leaped off the ground to the roar of the engine kicking into high gear, wheels flipping sideways as the Codemobile MK II blasted into the sea salt sky. Grinning at the expressions on her friends' faces, she let her gaze drift over the high rise buildings. "So many castles, so little time..."

Honey-chan shook her head and clapped the candy racer on the back. "Find the best for the princess, china doll, because the fight's about to begin."

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey freaking loved Little Miss Choko Pockystix.

The kid was simply amazing. At the age of twelve she was already fulfilling the promises made so long ago, flying the Hovercodebile into a towering pile of rabid surfers without a hint of hesitation. Between that and her singing cheery J-Pop to the beat of dodging psychos in street cars, Honey was half ready to recode Choko into a SEGA girl.

But before she could start screwing with Tobikomi's intellectual property, they needed to get Skrillex a willing zombie and a place to do god mode in. Luckily they had a huge pool of resources to kidnap from, but Honey cracked her knuckles; it wouldn't do to have a twitchy subject, not one bit. "Choko, bring me down closer to the pools; swimmer NPCs might be more easy to handle."

"Pool party at 3 o'clock!" Choko dive bombed the rabid partiers, Skrillex whooping at the adrenaline rush. And Honey couldn't help but cheer along with him, because it was just so awesome being in a flying cart; the feeling was the stuff Chaos emeralds were made out of, all tight-fisted energy ripping through your code. She let off that energy by thrashing the thrashers in the really nice pool, snagging a sluggish zombie by the ends of his dreads. "You got a good one?"

"Nice and infected." The zombie was trying to bite Honey's hand; thank goodness for gloves. Conking the loser on his head, she hefted the now-limp body into the backseat. Handing Skrillex a hair tie, she let him get settled into data manipulation mode as Choko scoped out a proper hiding place. "Get away from the beach, that's where most of the zombies are."

Choko swerved the car out of the air and in between the buildings, the Hovercodebile lowering to the ground as the buildings became less opulent. They settled on a rather nice but woefully outdone two story townhouse, and Choko managed to soften the impact of crashing through the garage. Honey looked around the garage, the dark interior faintly lit up by Skrillex's glowing eyes. "Now we just have to camp and let Dr. Manhattan do his job."

Mr. Waddles hopped out of the car, snuffling around before finding a discarded bag of chips. While Choko admonished her pig for eating unhealthily, Honey sneaked up the stairs. It wouldn't do to have zombies appear out of nowhere and cause Skrillex to screw up his code. After the lovely experience of getting her lifeblood sheared through a foreign code matrix, she didn't dare wish that sort of pain on her vitriolic best buddy.

The upstairs was empty of life, but groaning outside the windows indicated swarms of zombies patrolling the streets for unaffected flesh to feast upon. Carefully stepping away in case she knocked something over and added to the fun, Honey heard Mr. Waddles fire lasers before her mind registered that oh yeah, there was a gaping hole in the garage.

Deciding that subtlety wasn't going to do her any good, Honey raced back down the stairs and blinked at the chaos. The cart with Skrillex and the zombie were gone, Mr. Waddles fighting against a swarm of zombies that were surrounding an unconscious Choko. One of the zombies had a boombox in his hands, chocolate splatters on the stereo matching the growing halo around Choko's head, and Honey's vision tunneled.

Hands flashing with code, she picked up a car nestled in the back of the garage and threw it at the zombies, shrieking like a Sonic fanboy locked in a Sony conference room. Even more brainless beach bunnies poured into the garage, and Honey began to dismantle the walls in her quest for more stuff to beat them with. Mr. Waddles jumped onto her head and shot them down with cherry scented death beams, and she swore to give the big a nice bubble bath for his troubles.

Eventually the last zombie went down and Honey rushed to Choko's side. The girl was stirring and clutching her head, fragmented Japanese spilling from her mouth. "It's ok Choko, just breathe, they're gone now."

"頭が痛い (Atama ga itai)..." Honey helped her up, using a discarded polish cloth to wipe away the sickly sweet-smelling blood sticking to her neck because little girls should never be bleeding melted chocolate from head wounds. "They came out of nowhere...where is Sonny-kun?"

Honey narrowed her eyes at the world beyond the garage. "They ran off with the cart; I'm sorry honey, I should've been down here to stop them."

Choko laughed, and Honey wondered if she'd have to add delirium to her concussion and scalp trauma. Straightening her posture, she held up her Action Replay. "I'm very protective of who drives my cart after the Joe Spunk incident. There's a tracker in the engine, so unless they eat the cart itself—and good luck, there's three jawbreaker polish coats—we'll be able to find them. And who knows, maybe we'll find the source of the virus itself."

She smiled like a war-battered heroine getting a second wind to kick some enemy arse, and Honey pulled her diminutive friend into a hug. Oh yes, there was a reason she loved this kid.

* * *

On foot the beach seemed to stretch beyond forever. They were forced to leave Mr. Waddles behind to follow the cart as zombies would pick out the pig before they could get to Skrillex, but they set him up in an abandoned beach house with a lovely view of that crystal clear ocean.

It was easy enough to convince the zombies to not eat them; Choko was still disorientated from meeting the business end of a boombox, and Honey's game was filled with dorky males who liked to grunt and drool in their down time, so imitating them was no hardship. Honestly, if her Sonic could see her now, making zombie noises to match her zombie shuffle, she would die of embarrassment.

Dressing for the occasion was a little harder. Promising herself that this was an emergency situation, she accessed her own data from her Action Replay and found the memory of her cat girl body in Dragon's Lair. Synching it to the game's code matrix, she regenerated herself into her cumbersome model, and immediately tore off that stupid costume for a more appropriate bikini, sarong and flip flops.

Choko was also out of place due to being a preteen in a sea of young adults, so she gently stretched her model age into a respectable sixteen, the awkward proportions helping Choko in her infected gait. Honey dressed her very conservatively in a calf-length sundress and sandals; the day she let Choko parade around like the beach bunnies searching for brains was the day she ate her Action Replay.

Holding onto Choko's elbow, she guided the confused girl down the boardwalk, and she had to admit that the summer sun on her shoulders felt wonderful. Too bad the snorting, frothing populace ruined the beach aesthetic; if they fixed the problem she was coming back for a proper vacation. Maybe she'd let this new model out for a spin, molding it into something she wasn't so exposed in.

The gentle beeps from Choko's Action Replay turned necklace led them to a huge party in a grand hotel, the place swarming like the zombie's beehive. "Stay close china doll, we're in enemy territory."

"Hnn..." Choko blinked, kicking a leg forward. "This body is weird, I don't like being so tall."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to the proportions with time. Now where is the heart of this madness..."

"Try the pool, it's always the pool."

"The concierge lady's giving me a dirty look. Not my fault I know how to fill out a bikini."

"It's true though, your sprite model is much more graceful than mine. Just look at how gangly I am!"

"Sorry hon, if I was back in your game I could fill out the model stretches better. Not to mention that puberty does that to a growing girl. Ah, the pool! Stairs or elevator?"

"Elevator's quicker but I bet they're overflowing with zombies. It'll be a slow walk to the top though..."

"Hmm...screw it, elevator it is. Skrilly needs to get out of enemy territory, and my feet are killing me."

They squeezed themselves into the elevator, pointedly ignoring the zombies drooling over them. Choko shifted closer to Honey, playing with her sundress. "But am I pretty like this? I mean, as a grown up?"

"Of course you are, why?"

"Well...you need to make sure that I'm back to normal before we go. I like to hang out with Mee Mee-chan and Roll-chan on Thursday nights, so we're going over to Roll-chan's game and I don't want Me—I-I mean her to see me in such a state after work."

Honey grinned. "You're still head over heels for Mega—"

"Hey look, this elevator has blocked off the 13th and 4th floors. I didn't know these people were concerned with superstition."

"Oh, I bet he would just love the way you look—"

"Keep your voice down, zombies don't gush over pipe dreams!"

"Aww Choko, why so serious, it's perfectly fine to—"

"Not everyone has the same luck in their love lives, Honey-chan!" With that tightly whispered snap the doors opened, letting Choko stomp into the pool party and Honey giggle behind her because she was adorable when she was mad. "Now where is Sonny-kun?"

Skrillex was still in the cart in god mode, but the cart was resting on a huge pyre next to the giant pool. The zombies were moshing to, fittingly enough, his own music as they prepared to have the most horrifying bonfire Honey had ever seen. "By the grace of Genesis, we are surrounded by psychos."

Choko pulled a handful of pocky out of her pockets, body thrumming with energy. "Well Honey-chan, we're not exactly the poster girls of decorum ourselves. Care to have a little fun at this party?"

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

Skrillex was submerged in the code of this NPC. He knew everything about its stats, its personality, its morality meter and the probability of it committing crime to aid its quest for ultimate fun and pleasure.

So why, for the love of everything programmed, did he not see what was wrong with him?

"Alright, /search data log for past three hours."

Skrillex analyzed the logged memory, tracking the NPC's behavior. Everything was fine until 56:98 before closing hour, when suddenly his needs plummeted and the virus took hold. But where was the virus data? Had it rewritten its arrival in the memory logs so to hide its intrusion? Tricky bastard, trying to play Skrillex for a fool.

Shaking off mental exhaustion, /defrag NPC 452 aka Ben the Bromigo and Skrillex wondered what time it was. Usually he was in and out of god mode in little time, but sinking so far into one character had distorted his internal clock cycles. Wishing painful death upon the virus, he reanalyzed the NPC's data after the defragmentation and still nothing. He reset the code for the fifth time and still no change in the code and his behavior. Had the virus done irreparable damage?

If that was the case, then he needed to crate an antidote from the game's central programming. Sinking deeper into the code of E-X, he idly wondered if Honey and Choko were the ones making noise loud enough to register in his mind. Honey was probably teasing Choko about her crush on Megaman, nothing to worry about.

He became one with the game's lifeblood, and searched for any abnormalities. All the code boxes were flashing a healthy blue and pink, any static present was gold and caused by the Codebusters' influence, and Skrillex wanted to scream because there was no virus he could see. He'd never seen something on this caliber of subtlety; viruses loved to announce that heyo, I'm here to screw up your existence!, like in Sugar Rush and Tekken Tag 2. So why...

Aha! Skrillex brought a flickering code box close to his projected mind. /analyze code box LikeItWell. Like it well? Whatever it was, it was screaming at him that the well had not recycled and refilled after player #894 finished a game approx. 56:90 before arcade closing hours. Skrillex grinned because here was the source of the virus! It had spawned from the game not refreshing properly and infected all the NPCs and...

Wait. That wasn't a virus at work here.

Skrillex's mental eyes widened as he set simulation LikeItWell refill. There was nothing wrong with Ben the Bromigo's data when he analyzed it because there was no virus tracer keys, no data mutation, nothing that marked the presence of a virus. The simulation finished and Skrillex screamed loud and clear in his mental projection.

* * *

He resurfaced to a smoking hot brunette being flung over his head and off the roof. Roof? He was in the Codemobile MK II at what appeared to be a giant rooftop pool party, and the party goers were being beat to pulps by two girls in the middle of the fight. Mr. Waddles was shooting off strays who neared the Codemobile, and Skrillex's jaw opened. "Honey?!"

"Glad you're awake, Sonny boy!" She was a cat girl again and darn it all to the Minus World, she was really foking attractive in a red polka dot bikini and light blue sarong, especially since she was currently kneeing a pervy zombie in the crotch. "Choko, behind you!"

A cute pink haired teen in a pretty light yellow sundress turned and what the heck happened to Choko when he was down under? She cheered as she knocked back a charging group of zombies, yelling over the music—and that was HIS music playing!—with a bounce in her step, "I think I got this body model down! Oh, hello Sonny-kun! Did you create an antidote?"

Skrillex snarled, "Oh yes I did." Snapping his fingers, he refilled the LikeItWell to the brim and the zombies all froze. Color returned to their cheeks, their pupils returned to normal, and Ben the Bromigo sat up. "How are you feeling, good sir?"

"Dude, sick hairstyle! Like it!"

Suddenly the three were being showered with gold medals and coins as the former zombies turned back into vapid party bums, the viral apocalypse finished in a single line of code. Honey gaped, sputtering as she warded off lovestruck surfers, "What the heck just happened?!"

"This game runs on a popularity currency, and the code well for the ability to 'Like it' ran out. You can figure the rest out."

Honey began to turn red, arms shaking with pure rage. "So this entire time...they were just butthurt that they couldn't 'Like it"?! WHAT CHAOS IS THIS GAME MADE OF?!"

Choko petted Mr. Waddles, sitting next to Skrillex as Honey exploded. "I never did get to play that minigame. Want to go for a spin before Honey destroys the entire game, Sonny-kun?"

Skrillex grabbed a Redbull and vodka from the bar and downed it in one gulp. "Might as well, since I'm not coming back here unless I get paid."

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

"And then we talked for forever about what went down in E3 2013 since it affects the console room. Mr. Litwak's nephew got a sweet deal with Nintendo for a Wii U and a bunch of games since he and his friends are buddy buddies with important people, so the console room is excited." Vanellope yawned adjusting her seat on Ralph's arm. "We need to go to Roller Coaster Tycoon, it looks like a blast."

"I dunno kid, I doubt I could fit in a normal seat." Ralph was being all self-conscious about his mammoth height, so Vanellope tugged on his ear. "Oww, you brat! Tell you what, we'll head over on Sunday and see how it goes."

"Yay!" Vanellope slid off his arm, straightening her paper cup skirt. She kind of missed her teal hoodie and stockings from Before, but these purple and white ones were of much better quality, and didn't have the bad memory of Virus-Van in their stitching. Rolling her eyes at her girly fashion moment, she looked across the room to see the Codebusters returning. "Did everything go well?"

"The zombie virus was just them freaking out over not being able to be popular." Skrillex huffed and crossed his arms. "They're all turned up now, so I'm going to go tell Mee Mee and Roll to meet Choko here for their play date."

Choko rubbed the back of her head, pouting. "Oh come on, I'm perfectly fine—"

"You're lucky we're not making you go to the infirmary, little sister!" Honey looked very upset for some reason, Ralph muttering under his breath how touchy felines can get. "Not to mention what the stretching and unstretching of your model did to that concussion I know you have!" She sighed and pulled Choko into an hug, "Just for a few days, ok? You can still race, I'm just afraid of chocolate stains for the moment."

Vanellope frowned at her hands; each Sugar Rush racer had different kinds of filling—her's was a mixture of vanilla and mint extract—and she suddenly felt the urge to hospitalize her good friend. "I agree with Honey, Miss Pockystix. You can take your friends wherever in here, but I'm grounding you from outside adventures."

"Yes, Vanellope-heika." Choko came as close to grumbling at her leader than her code allowed, and Vanellope let her team sort themselves out for the night.

Ralph was chucking into his meaty palm, and Vanellope put her hands on tiny hips. "And what's so amusing, chuckle-monkey?"

"Nothing, Baroness Blubberbutt. Just funny to see you acting like a queen and all when you're like what, eleven years old?"

"I'm more of a twelve, although it's unclear what my set age is." Vanellope tapped her bottom lip, focusing on the white licorice strings of her hoodie. "Honey said she stretched Choko's model. Does that mean aging up?"

Ralph scratched behind his head. "I dunno, you know more about code than me, Ms. Princess-President."

"Hmm...it would be possible to make us look old like Honey or even Calhoun. But we'll just be kids in bigger bodies, and that's gross." Vanellope shuddered. "Imagine if I was turned into nineteen. I don't want to be in an old decrepit body when I'm still twelve."

"Oh, and I guess I'm just ancient old fart then?"

"Yep." Vanellope shrieked as Ralph started tickling her, and how do you get away from hands so huge? "Ok, I take it back! Hah!, uncle!"

"That's what I thought." Ralph let her catch her breath, which was nice because a queen had to breathe, but then he had a thoughtful expression on his mug. "Still though, imagine you being older. Can you even get older?"

"Only if my game gets upgraded so that I'm programmed to be older. It's the feelings that count most, not just the new set of legs." Vanellope snorted to herself, imagining being tall enough to pass Ralph's waist. "That would be the right way, not just a quick code fix..." She drifted off, then rubbed her arms. "That probably won't happen though. The latest sequel to my game is Sugar Rush GP for the Wii, and they're the same age as us. I even traded boots with the Vanellope from that game."

Ralph smiled, hefting her back onto his shoulder. "Well, even if you get an old decrepit body, you'll still be my best friend."

Vanellope was glad she was above his line of sight, because her expression had morphed into a goofy grin, and she didn't want to bother him with how much she appreciated his promise

* * *

"Choko!"

"Mee Mee-chan, Roll-chan! Come on, I'm giving you the grand tour tonight!"

"I brought my camera, I wanna show the guys back home that mountains made of ice cream exist. Oh, and Rock—I mean Megaman says hi."

"O-Oh, he did?"

"Ooh, you're blushing!"

"You are mistaken, Mee Mee-chan, I'm—"

"You know, he's only 18 Choko—"

"Don't make me push you into the cola hot springs!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 頭が痛い (Atama ga itai): I have a headache. In this context it literally means my head hurts.
> 
> After I re-read my older chapters (THEY'RE SO SHORT. I AM DISAPPOINT IN PAST ME) I fell back in love with the Choko/Megaman not pairing. It's just so cute.
> 
> I felt that we needed some more Vanellope and Ralph interaction, since their relationship is so strong that when it was broken, Ralph spiraled into a three-month long depression. Luckily M. Sonic was there to make sure he didn't die of sadness, and now we have the dynamic duo of sass and height differences.
> 
> I also brought up my internal feelings about the popular "Vanellope gets an aged-up upgrade and falls for Ralph". For me, it only works if it's explicit that her mental age goes up along with her physical age, otherwise it's still "all pedo", as someone once put it. And to be honest, there would be a lot of conflicting feelings between the two; one minute they're like brother and sister, and the next they're trying to get over pseudo-incestuous feels. While I like a well done Jawbreaker, I am hesitant to write it myself because of this.
> 
> On Xtreme E-X Livin' 2, look it up online and tell me whether or not those beach bozos could handle their precious popularity function dropping off. The second one guy overreacts, the next one starts frothing at the mouth, and it's like Warm Bodies but with more violence towards young Codebusters. They should know better than to mess with Honey's loved ones.
> 
> Kitty flipping is adding ketamine and ecstasy together. Don't ask how Skrillex knows what that is.
> 
> That's it for now, I hope you enjoyed it :D


	17. Street Fighter II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Street Fighter II and Choko is the final girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Salutations, my friends! I'm finally free from being a live-in nanny (dat college money) so I'm trying to get back into the swing of things for this story. And coming up is a game that was supposed to be shown already, but fits best here because...reasons, I guess.
> 
> For some godawful reason, this chapter took me FOREVER TO WRITE. Idk why, I had the plot figured out before I started the last chapter, but good lord, this was definitely a fruit of my labor. And then I had to go diving through movie themes on YouTube, and you can definitely tell where that influence came in. Hopefully it tastes more like delicious pomegranate and not like failberries.
> 
> Disclaimer: SCREW THE DISCLAIMER I'M TOO TIRED TO BE WITTY. Just assume that I don't own copyrighted material from Disney, SEGA, Activision or Capcom, ok?

**Choko's POV**

* * *

Choko poured green tea into Bubblebetty-chan's waiting cup, wishing to wean the girl off of her unsweetened sugarplum tea addiction. The poor dear's normally light pink skin was turning purple, and Tobikomi knew that any parallels to her Before state needed to be kept to a minimum. The other former palette swaps agreed, and they were all seated in Choko's tea room, sharing vicious gossip and snack recipes. "Is it true that you saw Sour Apple-chan and Minty-chan sharing a banana split?"

"You bet your pocky I did." Pollipop-chan smirked as she held up the official back stories of the racers. "I'm the one who got them to stop fighting after the reset, but I didn't think that tricky foe-yay subtext was part of their programming!"

The assembled group giggled wildly, before Marzipanne-chan leaned in closer. "More importantly Polli... what kind of toppings did the banana split have?"

"It was apple-infused caramel over butter pecan and wintermint chocolate chip ice cream, and I even saw butterscotch coated peanuts sprinkled on the whipped cream!" Choko gasped as everyone squealed, and Pollipop-chan sipped primly at her sparkling tea. "I bet you five coins that by the end of the week, they'll be..." Everyone held their breath, "holding hands between races."

The pigs outside jumped as all the girls in the tea room erupted. Choko was ready to start regulating the betting pool when her Action Replay began to buzz under her obi. Groaning, she motioned for her friends to not yell embarrassing lies and answered, "This is Choko to whoever's calling, is there a problem?"

" _Sorry china doll, but Ryu just showed up at my game saying that his game glitched five minutes ago."_

Rolling her eyes as her fellow racers made oogaly faces at Honey-chan's voice, Choko left to start getting ready for work. "I'll be at your port in five minutes. Spread the message to Skrillex-kun for me?"

"Loud and clear; the loser's counseling the Tekken Tag 2 fighters to stop being so serious, so I'll go rain on their parades. Honey out."

"It must be so glamorous, going all over the arcade and meeting new people." Lemonetta-chan and Bubblebetty-chan sighed dreamily, eyes sparkling with wishes of adventure. "But it also seems like a lot of hard work. Do you ever wish things had gone differently?"

Choko paused as she zipped up her uniform. She may have lost most of her free time and position as High Secretary, and her tea room had seen far too little company in the past year. By all means, a normal Sugar Rush girl would've been fed up with the high demand. Shaking her head, she turned to face her friends and wiggled her fingers. In an instant the table refilled and prettily drawn invitation cards to their racing successors from Sugar Rush 2000, Sugar Rush: Candy Craze and Sugar Rush GP. Choko smiled at their excited faces. "No, I think this is exactly what I've been meant to be."

* * *

Choko swerved the Codemobile to a stop in front of Honey-chan and Skrillex-kun, nothing with appreciation that they liked her expert handling. Not that she was a compliment fisher like some people—certainly not Taffyta-chan, where did you hear that?—but it was nice to see that flashy moves still rang in the code of rather cynical programs. "Where is Ryu-san?"

"He went back just a second ago to keep the problem from spreading." They jumped into the backseat and Skrillex-kun rubbed Mr Waddles' ears, eyes fixed on the port to Street Fighter II. "We also ran into M. Sonic and the Chun-Li from the other SFII. They're clean as far as they know."

Honey-chan casually leaned against Choko's chair, but the young racer could feel the protective concern radiating from her friend like the heat from a sweet seeker. It made her feel safer as they entered SFII, but Choko still felt uneasy; there was nothing visually amiss with the game. "Sonny-kun..."

"There's nothing explicit in the soundtrack..." But Skrillex-kun stood tensely, before yelling at the assorted group of fighters, "What kind of glitch is going on here?"

One of the beefier men, Guile-san, trudged forward with a sheepish expression. Blanka-san was pulled along with him, the former grumbling, "I kinda...I don't know, we're just stuck together."

Honey-chan sighed, hands on hips. "Looks like you fused your hit boxes together or something. When did this happen?"

Guile-san went off into a long-winded explanation that Choko felt go way over her head, but her battle game-born friend seemed to understand. Looking around, she noticed that the timer for the stage was still going. Skrillex-kun followed her gaze and began to pale. "Oh no..."

Honey-chan turned, started by his quiet exhale. "They were having time friendly fights when Guile managed to lock Blanka to his avatar and knock him unconscious. Talk to me Sonny boy, what are you seeing?"

Skrillex-kun walked up to Blanka before slapping him soundly across the face. He was suddenly pulled to the unmoving behemoth's side, and the timer counted down to three seconds. "Blanka's not knocked out, he's dead! And that means—"

The game timed out and Guile went into a victory pose before freezing. Skrillex-kun glitched violently and Choko wanted to scream, but then the world collapsed upon itself before she had time to make a sound.

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey had experienced game disasters before.

Sonic the Fighters was a well-built game, even if they forgot to code in the American title into their programming, and despite being a glitch stuck in a hellhole, the Void was solidly concrete. Yet for all that jazz, their console was a video game console, and she'd ridden out blackouts, short circuits and game crashes with grace. As much grace as a static block of pixels could, anyway.

Then again, even if your game got turned off unsafely and the power was cut to the game environment, you didn't die in the darkness as long as you were in your home game. And as she came to in the sightless landscape, she knew that she was very far from Kansas at the moment. "Sonny! Choko! Can anyone hear me?"

Her voice didn't carry in the stifled air, and she shakily raised her Action Replay. It's light illuminated her body but nothing else, and she sank to her knees. The miniscule, ever so fragile cartridge strung around her neck like costume jewelry had a direct link to the energy supply of whatever game it was in. SFII was still plugged in, so it still glowed like a Christmas tree star, and it was keeping her alive in the powerless game-crashed underworld.

Heady with the knowledge of her survival, she ran her fingers over the subtle markings in the cartridge's surface. "Honey to Codebusters, are you alive out there?"

…

…

…is this what her Sonic felt for eleven years?

" _Honey-chan!"_

Honey nearly fainted with relief but kicked the weakness in her code to the curb; she had a mission to finish. "Glad to hear you hon. Are you in one piece?"

" _Oh Honey-chan! This is so m-much different than when Mario-san's game crashed!"_  Her little child voice seemed so much smaller in the void, and Honey crushed the seeds of despair tighter in her mental fist.

"Don't worry dearest, that was because it was a scripted crash. This is a bit more catastrophic, no big deal." Honey began to walk forward because if she had time to worry, she had time to get moving and get working on fixing the problem. "I can promise you that I've seen this before. It's just a little scary because we're foreign data and the power for the game environment turned off."

" _The p-power! B-But—"_

"Choko, listen to me. Our Action Replays are linked to the game's power supply, so we're not going to die. Besides, do you think Skrilly would let you die in such a mainstream manner? That hipster god modder's probably dealing with the problem right now."

Choko began to giggle over the feed and Honey prided herself in keeping the girl from crying. Amy was younger than Choko but didn't have Turbo trauma ready to cue the waterworks. A small pulse of life beckoned under her feet, and Honey picked up the pace. "You still there little sister?"

" _Yeah."_ The darkness was cramming itself in Honey's ears, and she strained to hear the muted reply. _"I can't anything in here; how are we supposed to fix the glitch?"_

"Well, we can't have a death trigger restart the game, since that's waaaay too much obligation for a non profit organization like ours." Honey swore she saw a light in the far distance, and pushed her legs to the max. She just had to imagine it was like sixteen years ago, back when she and her Sonic ran circles around the Void to stay in shape and keep from going insane. "We gotta find Princess Skrilla, he might have some good ideas."

Honey didn't hear Choko's reply, as something came out of the darkness and wrapped a cold hand around her throat.

* * *

"Honey-chan? Honey-chan, can you hear me?"

"—1000 0101 1101 0110. Activate /localreset Sonny Moore aka Skrillex."

"Sonny-kun! Oh, are you going into computer mode?"

"...hzzzzzzt. Sorry babydoll, I was reconfiguring myself after I got handcuffed to Guile and Blanka. Damn glitchy arcade fighting mechanisms."

"Well, I'm glad to hear you're alive! But have you hear from Honey-chan? She was just on the line."

"It's hard to hear through these when we're wandering through anti-electricity interference. But to be on the safe side, keep listening."

"Hai. Do you know where we are?"

"My console commands don't work on anything expect myself, since we have to reconnect the electricity flow to the game world. Out of all the glitches we could've seen today, we got the one that would've killed anyone without an Action Repla—"

"Sonny-kun?"

"Garughack!"

"Sonny-kun?!"

"..."

"...oh dear."

* * *

"Ok Pockystix, you need to stay focused. There's no electricity, if you drop your Action Replay you die, and both of your teammates have dropped off the grid. Nothing you can't handle."

…

"Who am I kidding, this is a disaster! And the other team is busy in Joust tonight! I just need to find the code well, it always spawns in a game. Even if the power goes out, or Virus-Van tries to murder us all, I need to—oof!"

"..."

"Oh, 済みません (sumimasen)! I didn't know that the game characters would spawn in a state like this."

"... ..."

"I didn't catch your name...?"

"!"

"!"

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

He roared back into life as Choko screamed over his Action Replay. Glowing a dangerous blue, he ripped through the darkness to her side, dragging her away from the danger. They crash landed somewhere in the darkness, and the blue faded as his wounds took dead center.

"Sonny-kun!" Choko was at his side, and he could see her lit up by their cartridges. Hopefully she couldn't see him, because he wasn't feeling too pretty at the moment...he struggled to sit up but she gently pushed him down. "横たわってください (Yokotawatekudasai), I need to make sure you're ok."

Skrillex grinned in the darkness, before turning his head towards the ever expanding nothing. "Honey's still...out there, kid. You gotta save...her too."

"But what about you?" Her eyes were just so large, and he needed to erase the fear there because he could feel something skulk their way.

"I'm a physical god...r-remember? I got this." He gripped her shoulder with his clean hand, sealing his stomach with the other. She levered him to his knees—FOK FOK FOK—then to a careful stand against her shoulder, and he could smell the chocolate conditioner in her hair "The sooner we get H-Honey, the s-sooner...we can go home. But in c-case something happens...promise me you'll..." He was too tired to continue, but she laughed into the dark cotton surrounding them.

"We'll go slowly, and tuck that Action Replay under your jacket." She paused, then sent a silly little smirk his way as she led them away from the approaching danger. "This time only I'll permit your usual fashion style."

He needed to focus on self-healing commands and keep himself from dying a pathetic death, but he let himself laugh at that.

* * *

Since their voices carried like an under-supported alto riff on mute, Choko filled the eerier silence with aimless chatter. Not only was it pretty hilarious—that Gloyd kid scaring Jubileena so badly that her screams caused a cherry pie avalanche was just so Joel—but it soothed the viciously terrible ache in his code. /numb area stomach regardless, Skrillex began to play with his music player. It didn't hurt to have a little music to keep their minds off of the danger lurking in the nothing.

Darling Choko had little knowledge of the great movie soundtracks, and he blew her little eardrums out with glorious John Williams, letting her play with his lightsaber to the tune of Star Wars. Setting his music player to auto, he let Choko move on ahead so he could clutch his chest in privacy.

/numb area fullbody wasn't cutting the job, and Honey was nowhere to be seen. Honestly, he should have never touched Blanka; he should've thrown Choko and Honey back into the Codemobile and let Mr. Waddles get them the fok out of Street Fighter II. Speaking of which, where was the little pig? Skrillex grimaced as his hands kept getting wet, and fell flat on his face.

"Sonny-kun!" Choko helped him away from the jutting piece of...Skrillex felt along the edge with a good hand. Together they mapped out a large rectangle with a curved dome made of a less dense material. Choko gasped as she felt the top of the dome, and her Action Replay strobed as she bounced around him. "Vanellope-heika described this to me before! It's the code well, we can restart the game and find Honey-chan!"

Skrillex sighed; he hated breaking bubbles of people other than Honey and Joel (and Suri, Pixie, Fro, David...the DJs were not safe). "Then it has a lock that only this game's specific Action Replay, or in this case Game Genie, can open." Damn skeleton key cartridge limitations; what was the use of an all-purpose game modifier if you can't use it when you really need to?

She took the bad news with plucky grace, letting him lean back on her delicate shoulder. "That's ok, we need to focus on finding Honey-chan anyway." Her short legs eased their pace and Skrillex relaxed just a little bit.

Then the music snapped from a moderately soft "Princess Leia's Theme" to a deafening "Halloween Theme", and they both screamed as they felt something wicked come their way. Luckily Choko was as good of a foot racer as a cart racer, and she took off running in a random direction. Skrillex felt his hasty code patches tear open, and he hoped that Choko's chocolate scent would cover the disturbing amount of iron dribbling into his shoes.

He couldn't see the bastard in the thick nothing, but the music slowly morphed into "Every Breath You Take", and that wasn't as comforting as it should've been. Choko wrapped an arm around his waist when he faltered and oh crap. "Sonny-kun!"

"No worries...I'm alright." She searched his stomach with a feather-light touch but it hurt terribly. Her hands weren't much smaller than his, and they were dark blue in the faint light. Suddenly nauseous, he sank down to a fetal position because being on his knees just wasn't going to work. "W-We need Honey. Her code's the weakest.." Choko bit her lip and he knew what she was thinking. Either make a run for it and find Honey before their knife happy stalker found them, or stay with a downed DJ. He smiled and held her hands, ignoring the slight squelch they made against his. "Just go, I c-can hide."

She turned away, probably fighting back the urge to cry, but then she looked at him with an expression straight from a horror movie. "Play dead and hide under your jacket if our new friend comes looking. I'll get Honey and the Codemobile, and then I'll come back for you, ok?"

"Ok..." She guided him to make a sad huddle on the ground, pain leeching into his nervous system even as he /numb part fullbody. He looked up to see Choko hold her Action Replay under her chin, and her eyes were lit up with a dangerous blue. "H-Here, take this." He handed her his music player; Havok knew she needed the audio cues more than he did.

She smiled her thanks and tucked stray hair behind his ear before facing the darkness. Her sweet expression melted back into that dark determination, and her voice buffered against the choking black.

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for money I can tell you I don't have gold coins on me, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a short but successful career of racing and code manipulating. Skills that make me a nightmare for mean stabby people like you. If you let my friends and I fix this game crash that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you and I will BLEED YOU LIKE A STUCK TRUFFLE."

Skrillex watched her go with eyes full of wonder, and prayed that their attacker didn't dare to touch her precious Codemobile.

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

"The Planet Krypton" echoed darkly in her little bubble of sensation, but Choko hardly cared about the acoustics. All she cared about was that Skrillex-kun was bleeding out in the darkness, and she felt the blood he was trying to hide. But how in the name of Sugar Rush was he supposed to hide 15 stab wounds in his small torso?!

Her hands were still sticky, and she felt a strange comfort in clenching her fists. Honey-chan never replied, so either she was worse off than Skrillex-kun or dead. And if after all the trials and tribulations that girl went through, she was just to die at the hands of a faceless monster in the middle of a crashed game, then Choko was going to break the arcade in half. Starting with the entity that changed her music to "Psycho".

A cold hand bragged her hair and son of an onsen geisha, he ripped out her scrunchie and bow! Kicking outwards, she stabbed her pocky chopsticks into a hand that was tugging at her throat, and ducked under his retaliation swing. He didn't make a sound the entire time, and it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

She could just barely make out the attacker's form, a hulking figure with monstrous speed and power. He smacked her hard across the face and she hit the ground, scrambling away when he tried to stomp her into a fine jelly. Blinking away angry static stars, she sank her Action Replay into his thigh and raged, "EXTERMINATE!"

The figure disappeared into the anti-electricity spectrum, and she held her cartridge close. Her cheek ached and her hair was getting in her eyes and she wanted to go home. But Honey-chan and Skrillex-kun needed her to be strong, and she pulled together all the inspiration that the kunoichi in her imported movies had for herself.

Walking into the dark, she released nervous steam by fiddling with Skrillex-kun's music player. Endless music categories flashed in its small screen, from glitchstep to cartoon themes to video game music? She scrolled down to find that Skrillex-kun had downloaded the complete score of Sugar Rush, both Japanese and international versions. The familiar notes of her original theme brought a smile to her lips, and she quietly sang the J-Pop influenced lyrics to the nothing around her.

A small glow to the far left caught her eye, and she raced off to see if it was Skrillex-kun or Honey-chan or whoever populated this underworld. She gasped as she came upon the figure. "Mr. Waddles!"

Her security pig was jumping around the Codebuster, whose hazard lights cast a small halo of light. She tried petting him but he jumped out of her hand, oinking hysterically and flashing red. Bringing up his stats, she paled; he had only half a heart keeping him from dying. Further inspection of her cart revealed terrible slice marks in the fondant letters, marshmallow seats ruptured with stab holes and chunks of cookie torn from the wheels.

The fact that Honey-chan was propped against the bender was the only thing keeping Choko from having a rage meltdown to rival Virus-Van's.

* * *

Choko rolled her eyes; of course Skrillex-kun wouldn't be in the same general area she left him in. Then again, time and space had little meaning in a void, so no one could blame her for being very lost. Honey-chan was curled in the space between Mr. Waddles and the front door, and the glow of her Action Replay illuminated the dark bands around her throat.

The stalker had tried to choke out her dear friend, only relenting when Honey-chan played dead and Mr. Waddles drove up. Such a good security pig, but his bravery nearly cost him his own life! The steering wheel groaned under her grip, and was it just her or were creepy waterphone chords bleeding into her radio?

Mr. Waddles suddenly screeched and Ezaki Glico protect them, but the murderous fiend was in the backseat. Choko ducked under the knife swing, swerving the car around to dislodge his grip on the ruined upholstery. Liquorice lasers flared into the dark as her pig tried to save her from getting a new mouth cut into her throat. A cold hand tore at her uniform, and the fear in Honey-chan's eyes made Choko snap.

With a shriek worthy of any final girl, she judo flipped the stalker away, leveraging him up and over the windshield. Slamming on the brakes, she felt him tumble off the hood, and gunned the engine with a pedal-breaking stomp. Mr. Waddles let out a battle cry as Choko rammed the Codemobile into the monster, taking her speed up to level 11. No mercy for this やつめ (yatsume), no foking mercy! The headlights illuminated the dark figure against the locked dome, and Choko put everything she had into speeding up.

They crashed mightily against the dome, a golden Game Genie peeking out of the figure's form. But that didn't matter, what did was making the would-be murderer bleed like a stuck truffle. Choko backed up for a bit before ramming back into the dome, the jawbreaker coating holding firm. Each twist and crunch spurred her on, and Mr. Waddles focused his lasers directly on the disgusting monster turning into jelly on her grill.

The music changed to a rowdy and rather adult trap song, but Choko liked the beat. "くたばれ、きさま！ (Kutabare, kisama!) You—tried—to—KILL—MY—FRIENDS! And now I—have to—act—a—FOOL!"

With a final ram the Game Genie flew into the lock, and Choko was free to drag the evil man under her wheels and away from Skrillex-kun, who was...laughing? Poor thing must be suffering from blood loss! Handing the wheel to Mr. Waddles, she shook a finger, "And don't let up, honey. Oh, Honey-chan, if you feel up to it you can drive as well."

Honey-chan was also laughing silently, giving Choko a thumbs up. Smiling cheerfully, Choko jumped into the code well, sighing in relief as color and light surrounded her. Diving deeper, she floated by the code box maintaining electricity flow and pulled out a switch. And right before she turned the power back on, she swore she saw a strange purple box named disappear in a flicker of light.

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

Vanellope met Ryu's guilty expression for a moment before sighing at the scene in front of her.

Everyone was in the infirmary  _again_ , with various members of games piling into the too small space  _again_. Codebusters East was directing frantic friends and curious bystanders to great effect, but the three beds in the center of the room were still bustling with activity.

Honey was pouting because while she was clear to fight in the morning, Dr. Mario had the sad news that her voice would be gone for the rest of the week. The bad guys in her game actually had the gumballs to laugh about that, and Honey quickly put the good doctor to work by punching their lights out.

Skrillex was being yelled at by Suri, the leader of the DJs, and his friends weren't exactly helping. Listening in, Vanellope heard snippets of their lovely conversation:

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T PLAY UNTIL NEXT WEEK BECAUSE YOUR SYUSTEM NEEDS DEEP-CODE DEFRAGGING?"

"Bro, you dun goofed so hard—"

"WHY IS IT THAT YOU CAN'T DO YOUR JOB WITHOUT GETTING SLICED UP?"

"Come on Suri, it's not like he—"

"DO I NEED TO SEND A BABYSITTER WITH YOU TO KEEP YOUR BABY ASS SAFE?"

"Ooh, can I volunteer?"

"SHUT UP JOEL, I'M BUSY YELLING AT MR. I CAN ALTER THE UNIVERSE AT WILL BUT I STILL GET GUTTED BY A B-HORROR MOVIE FREAK!"

Wincing, she moved towards the third bed, which was far calmer and a bit more surreal. Choko was in a middle of a tea party with Choko 2000, Choko Candy-Craze and Choko GP, all talking in fast paced Japanese. Choko GP in particular looked very unimpressed by what the original pocky brained girl had to say, and without a word she daintily set her cup down, glided over to Guile and leveraged him through a window. A faint "I deserved that!" managed to soften her expression, but not by much.

Shaking her head, Vanellope turned back to Ryu. "So do you know what tried turning my Codebusters into sliced cheese?"

"Not a clue, Your Majesty. But there are rumors that through truly unattainable means, a mysterious foe will come to...well, you can see the damage here." Ryu scratched his chin, before turning. "Hey Ken! You remember that scary story Dhalism likes to tell?"

"You mean the one about the dragon master creep who fights to the death?" Ken laughed, synching his movements with Ryu. "That's just a dumb story—do you really think that there's an OP fighting boss god skulking around our data? That's just a bad rumor that game magazine started!"

"Oh I know that feel." Vanellope snorted, adjusting her crown. "For years gamers tried launching Adorabeezle through a wall, claiming that there was a hidden bonus level filled with gold coins!"

Immediately a storm of stories about gullible gamers trying to break the game to gain some hearsay achievement swept through the infirmary, and Vanellope left them to their own devices. Ralph was waiting for her at his game, and while she felt a bit overwhelmed at times between being a queen and making sure that the Codebusters didn't die and racer-related drama, she wouldn't change a thing; this was what her life was meant to be, and no impossible prize could change her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 済みません (sumimasen): Excuse me
> 
> 横たわってください (Yokotawatekudasai): Please lie down/stay lying down? (I know the ending is correct but I'm unsure for the verb. Google translate, don't fail me now!)
> 
> son of an onsen geisha: Onsen geisha had a very bad reputation for doubling as prostitutes, which was a connotation that spread to "real" geisha and Choko's inspiration. So she's saying a rather adult phrase here, but she's dealing with a murderer so it's justified.
> 
> Kunoichi: female ninja
> 
> Ezaki Glico: The company that created pocky
> 
> やつめ (yatsume): Bastard. Note that the ending me adds more negative connotation to the already rude yatsu.
> 
> くたばれ、きさま！ (Kutabare, kisama!): Drop dead, you (bastard)! Kutabare also has the meanings of "You're going down!", "Go and take a running jump", and a few four letter words I can'rt say without bumping up the rating. Kisama is a very rude form of you, having the meaning os bastard basically. As with temee, this is well-known to Naruto fans.
> 
> And that's it for the translations; on to the actual story content!
> 
> In Street Fighter II, there is a "handcuff glitch" with Guile. Basically, through a specific attack, you will both KO/kill the opponent and lock him to Guile. This isn't an issue if you can unlock the opponent, but if the time runs out and they're still handcuffed, the game will crash.
> 
> Because Skrillex locked himself to the pile, his foreign data accidentally caused the electricity flow to the game part of the game to turn off. All the native characters saw this as a brief blackout in their memories. But to anyone not linked to an Action Replay/Deus ex MacGuffin, this would be fatal because no electricity equals instant death. Remember that when you unplug without saving first.
> 
> The psycho murderer wasn't going to be in the chapter until I read an article on the SF wiki while listening to the Halloween theme (which brought in the many, many music drops in the chapter). This guy was referenced in movie as graffiti, and here's his debut in my cracked up universe: Sheng Long! Straight from the wiki: Sheng Long is a character once thought to appear in the Street Fighter game. He is regarded as the most famous character hoax not only in the history of Street Fighter, but in all of fighting games. The name "Sheng Long" was based off a mistranslation of "Shoryuken", found in one of Ryu's early victory quotes, "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance". The large amount of fans questioning the quote lead to a rumor spread by EGM that Sheng Long was actually a secret boss character fought under extreme conditions. The whole hoax would become one of the most famous hoaxes and video game legends in gaming history, spreading globally."
> 
> Everyone knows about this kind of concept. Some cool, invincible content that a friend of a friend once unlocked with a ridiculous list of requirements. All untrue, but some are so legendary that they begin to haunt the games they "originated" from...spooky, man. Good thing that Choko is a final girl straight from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and is trained in the arts of car-fu!
> 
> Yes, I used a Taken reference. And a Doctor Who reference, and a Buffy, Scary Movie, It's a Wonderful Life and various other references. That's the magic of being an author, you get to cram in all your favorite things down your readers' throats :D
> 
> I hope that you liked this chapter, even though the tone and plot kept making u-turns from where I wanted them to go!


	18. Guitar Hero Arcade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which all the Codebusters go to Guitar Hero and utilize the power of rock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws computer out my window*
> 
> Writer's block is the bane of my existence. Trying to find glitches/excuses for a chapter is also the bane of my existence.
> 
> Luckily, I have friends who kick my butt into writing shape whenever I go on these mini updating crises. And I figured I'd change up the pace of this chapter, since I'm sitting on a lot of content and it's my story I do what I want.
> 
> EPIC FAIL GO!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own a lot of things, namely Disney (Choko), SEGA (Honey), Activision (Skrillex), Square Enix (Sora), Atari (Leia), Mojang (Bob) OR Guitar Hero Arcade which is also owned by Activision.

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey sighed as the sun warmed her back, stretching an arm out to grab her coconut milk. She was finally using her intended model in a beach environment, and she and Leia were going to enjoy this holiday to the fullest extent of sun bathing splendor.

Mr. Litwak was out of town for his nephew George's wedding and had closed the arcade for the week, so the Codebusters cores managed to catch up on all the backlogged requests that got pushed to the side whenever a game decided to self destruct. Honey though it was therapeutic, recalibrating the game engine in Pong instead of being sent to Dr. Mario. But in defense of being beaten to a pulp every other Wednesday, their skills had progressed enough that one day into their seven day free week, they were done and left to their own devices.

The best part was that since they were finally free to actually hang out and be semi-normal civilians, all six code masters had packed up and went to Super Mario Sunshine for an extended team building trip/much needed vacation. Day 4 of said trip was shaping up to be another lazy day in the sun, and Honey idly watched Choko and Sora roll giant watermelons to the smoothie shack. Skrillex was sleeping in the shade after spending hours skateboarding along the natural ramps of Gelato Beach, Bob was flirting with some giggling pianta girls, and Leia shared a smirk with her fellow lady friend; how long would it take for someone to come barreling in and cut their vacation time short?

To the party crasher's credit, they at least had four days of nonstop relaxation. So when a red haired rocker with bright pink leather clothes—by the emeralds, she must've been burning in the hot tropical air—glomped Skrillex and woke him up with a girly scream, Honey finished off her coconut. "If all six of us work together, we might be able to make our reservations at Hotel Delfino."

Leia grinned, bouncing off of her recliner. "Ooh, we've never worked together since tutorials, this will be fun. Bobby, Sora, wanna go Codebusting with the other guys?"

"Woo!" Sora launched himself and Choko into the air, somehow managing to keep their watermelon smoothies in their cups even as they back flipped to Leia's side. "Beach time and a mission? Best vacation ever!"

Choko laughed at the kid's excitement, blushing slightly as Sora hefted her onto his shoulders, and looked towards the redhead currently tormenting Skrillex. "Sonny-kun, who is your friend?"

The redhead giggled, holding a tomato red Skrillex in a choke hold. "I'm Judy Nails, me and Skrilly go way back to when he was just a baby program getting a feel for music rhythms in my own game." She let Skrillex go since he was turning purple, and adjusted the goggles keeping her wild hair in place. "My game, Guitar Hero Arcade, is acting up again, so I was wondering if I could borrow the short order for a while."

Honey shrugged lightly, violet eyes watching Skrillex return back to normal. "You mind if we tag along too? We're doing team building stuff, and a shared mission will both save your game faster and get us to work together better."

"Sure!" Judy smiled and tugged Skrillex to her side again, smothering the side of his face against her impressive bust. "Let's get going, I haven't seen my darling Sonny for a while and I need me some catch up time."

Judy led the way out of the beach towards the exit of the game, more or less drowning Skrillex in her attention, and Honey looked over her fellow friends. Sora and Choko were in their happy bubble of watermelon joy, Bob was still making passes at passing girls, and Leia was meeting Honey's glance with a knowing smirk. Neither of them knew what was ahead, but they were certainly ready to find out.

* * *

Guitar Hero was a far cry from Super Mario, various punks shooting the grimy breeze against warehouse walls, and Honey felt better when Sora tightened his grip on Choko. Her older sister feels were only getting worse the longer she spent around the candy brat, and the large amount of sneering hipsters with giant piercings were making her antsy. "I'm guessing this is a game play issue?"

"You bet." Judy led them to a practice studio, flipping her hair into Skrillex's face. "Let's get you guys set up here, you can't fail the game with these settings."

"Is it that bad?" Bob frowned at his lack of arms, bowing out of actively testing the game mechanics. "Does it threaten the safety of those playing?"

Judy fixed them up with guitars, lingering on Skrillex's diminutive shoulder strap. "Nothing terrible like that; I heard about what happened in Street Fighter II and Joust. Wicked stuff, but this is only a problem for real gamers. If they see this...well, you'll see." She fiddled with the start up booth, before giving them a thumbs up. "No worries, just see what you can do!"

Honey tensed as the song began. All five active Codebusters were on their own song ribbon but the beginning notes were synced with each other. It was similar to DDR in a way, using her fingers instead of her feet, and Honey wondered what was the big deal.

"This isn't so bad, where's the OH MY GOD."

Suddenly glitching notes piled out of nowhere to destroy them, the scratches of missing guitar hits grating with the garbled music until Skrillex ragequit and threw his guitar at his ribbon. Honey froze up because there was no way she could begin to stop the madness, and abandoned her own ribbon to watch the others.

Choko was unfortunate enough to have tiny hands even with her miniature guitar, and gave when her fingers began to cramp. Leia pounded on her guitar and yelled something about hit detection and overloads before following Skrillex's lead and throwing her guitar. Sora held on the longest before a surge of notes overtook him and he threw his hands up in the air. "Can we start over? This is way too much."

Judy nodded and took the tempo down from normal to snail trailing. They reset their guitars—Judy personally helps Skrillex, tucking his hair behind his ear and adjusting his glasses—and were overtaken by the glitch again. And again. And again. Honey turned towards a visibly flustered Leia, who looked ready to eat her giant buns. "You holding up, princess?"

"Never better." Leia stuck her tongue out at Honey, smacking Sora upside the head when he laughed at his teammate. At least the girl had her strategy of keeping her boys in line down; if only they could smack the glitch into submission as well. "But practice makes perfect, right? Play the song again please."

* * *

**Bob's POV**

* * *

Leia was mistaken; practice makes permanent and they were going to be stuck playing this glitchy notefest for the rest of their lives.

Ok, maybe not the rest of their lives, but Guitar Hero was doomed at this rate. Bob glumly watched Sora electrocute his game ribbon and shock himself in the process; normally he would be laughing at the spiky haired kid, but he felt too useless to be so peppy at the moment. It prolly had to do with him not having arms and being a load on the rest of the teams.

Frowning, he glared at his feet. The one time both Codebusting cores got to go on a mission together, and he was benched. Judy kept giving him these pity looks, like it was his fault for not having arms, and he was sick of watching her make googly eyes at Skrillex.

A swarm of glitching notes knocked Leia onto her rear and Bob stood up. He needed to do something to minimize the glitch's OP properties, and if all else failed, he could always explode and relive some of his friend's growing tension. Explosions made everyone relax after all, unless you were Steve?, and that guy was a jerk anyway.

Shaking his head—it was Sora's job to go on crazy tangents, he needed to keep focus!—he hopped up to Judy's sound booth. "So all of your songs are like this?"

"Yep. I can't even break through, and I'm...well, pretty good at my job." Judy flicked a lollipop at Skrillex's head, grinning when he backhandedly caught it and launched it back at her face. "I admit though, I didn't think that even Sonny would have problems. The guy's a pro at this."

Bob eyed Skrillex's laptop, before remembering the tutorial the senior Codebudtsers gave his team. Most of it was focused on the how-to's of an Action Replay/Game Genie, but their individual strenghts were touched upon. Leia was the queen of blasting code, Sora had his epic Majestic Thunder swords, and Bob was handy in blowing glitches to bits; the trick was to trigger their default settings by vaporizing the glitch. But with the way the glitch was forming here, he didn't think that was going to fly.

The strengths of the others were talked about. Honey was just freaking awesome, beating up anything in her way—Joe Spunk hadn't dared to show his face after she was through with him and able to directly modify code by herself, Choko was a racing prodigy and had the interesting knack of figuring out problems through pure gumption, and Skrillex... "You figure custom content would glitch out too?"

Judy blinked as Bob poked at his friend's laptop. "Sonny is gifted in rhythm games and problems, got him the job in the first place, and he is also synced with any game's soundtrack as far as I can tell. Put that with his computing skills, and we might find a way around this glitch."

"I like the way you think, weed whacker." Judy vaulted over the sound booth to drape herself over Skrillex's shoulder, relaying Bob's hypothesis with a lot more flirty innuendos. Seriously, the girl was worse than Sora's friend Kairi—was it a redhead thing? Skrillex looked embarrassed, but Bob couldn't tell if it was because Judy is trying to eat his face or because he forgot that oh yeah, I have epic powers. Poor kid, vacationing must've scrambled his brains.

"Bob, can you help me out here?" The rest of the Codebusters battled the waves of musical glitch as Skrillex showed Bob how to connect the game's soundtrack to his laptop. Bob may not be to the level of his friend, or have hands for the cute little keyboard and touch pad, but he got the gist of altering Guitar Hero's song selection. "The game will generate new layouts for each new song, and hopefully the glitch with be easier to manage on a new playing field."

Hah, puns are punny. Bob picked a play list at random because it wasn't like he was the one going to play them, and smirked as the music synched perfectly, releasing the Codebusters from playing the same tired songs over and over. Judy smushed Skrillex into her bust for his help, Honey and Leia were self destructing in a corner, and Bob shrugged at a confused Sora and Choko. It wasn't like he was getting involved with that mess either.

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

"Ok...jeez Sonny, what kinda songs you got on this play list?"

"I don't even know, Sora." Skrillex-kun watched a song called "Happy Happy Joy Joy" flick by as Leia-hime scrolled through the selection, a vaguely unsettled expression on his face. "There's no point, just pick a song and we'll see what happens." Leia-hime settled on something called "Good Galaxy Mash Up", and Skrillex-kun smiled. "Well isn't that a song to start with."

Choko was confused until a fanfare jump started her ribbon, and she almost missed the beginning notes. Strings and winds flowed through her ears like wisps of electricity, and the swell of music was just so...so adventurous! Sighing dreamily, Choko idly made a perfect streak of notes, too wrapped up in the romance of the song; as a result, she saw the growing glitch as not an annoyance, but a threat to proper society. "Incoming!"

The song morphed from wide-eyed optimism into refined intensity, the Codebusters picking off notes to the war drums thrumming under their fingertips. In a crash of trumpets the glitch attacked, and Choko could hardly make out the natural song underneath the festering data. Leia-hime shrieked as a glitch popped like hot cola under her boot, and Choko narrowed her eyes. "This means war!"

She tilted her guitar and her ribbon exploded in blue, giving her the star power needed to cut through the glitch blocking her. Her points suffered as it was pretty much impossible to hit all the notes with her tiny four fingers, but by the time her power ended Sora-kun was cheering her name. "Keep it up princess!"

Choko smiled at Sora-kun; like Skrillex-kun he was much like an older brother who liked to go on merry adventures with her, albeit a cute one. Which was kinda weird, since it wasn't good form to find an older brother figure attractive, but between him and Megaman-sama and Leia-hime's dreamy brother Luke-san, Choko was having a rough time with this whole love thing. She decided to work off her petty frustrations and button mashed her guitar to beat back the glitches corrupting the song.

Said song dipped low into what her second party developed brain recognized as a variation on a legendary theme. The glitches caused the winds to screech and the drums to beat wildly out of tempo, but unlike the previous mess ups that made Choko irritated, this only fueled the flame in her gut. Molten, twisting and out of control, the song was everything she hated about the word "glitch". An error, a mistake, and something that touched on the lives of everyone present.

The glitching notes built upon themselves until Choko could hardly breathe, she was working her guitar so quickly. For a moment she thought she would drown in the angry noise, be lost to the inner turmoil, but then she heard Sora-kun whistling cheerfully along to the melody. Then Leia-hime and Honey-chan began to hum melodramatically, Bob-kun shuffling beat of the drums, and Skrillex-kun was grinning in her direction. "What do you think babydoll, think we got a chance?"

Choko exhaled, stress melting out of her frame like liquid taffy, and laughed in between making up nonsense lyrics with Skrillex-kun over the din of the racket she and her friends were making. They were going to fail miserably at this song, and the glitch was going to take more than one try to beat, but as long as they kept having fun, there was no way they were going to lose.

* * *

**Leia's POV**

* * *

Leia was no coward—she let the Stormtroopers have that dubious honor—but she felt a twinge of dread in her gut when she picked a song at random.

So far they had crawled through five songs, all worse than the last, and the glitch was putting up a terrific fight. The Force was very much strong in the mess that Guitar Hero spawned, and she was developing a phobia of light clusters. Which was a problem, because her game was more or less just light clusters blowing each other up.

Shaking that existential thought out of her head, Leia readjusted her guitar strap and hoped that whatever "HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA" was, it didn't involve insane emo screaming like the last one. At least Skrillex had the self awareness to blush at his...younger self's musical talents.

The song started with a cutesy synth drum lead up, but Leia dropped her guitar as the song properly began. "I am not prepared for this level of anarchy."

Notes fizzled in a rainbow of fabulous colors beneath her, but she couldn't bring herself to play. Bob was shaking by the sound booth while Judy was frozen with her mouth wide open, and the Codebusters were fumbling madly with the controls as they decided to not be responsive. Honey's left eye twitched, fifteen blue moons rose over the Death Stars back home, and Skrillex burst into laughter.

"And so I cry sometimes when I'm lying in bed, just to get it all out," Sora gave up any pretense of being serious, hip thrusting with his guitar and flipping his hair with a flash of sparkles. "What's in my head, and IIIIHHH IIIIIIIIIHHHH...I feel a little peculiar~"

Choko fell to her knees in hysterics, beating on the notes with her guitar. Sora blew Leia a giant rainbow kiss, his Majestic Thunder glowing fabulously in a corner, and he screeched over the glitching song, "And so I wake in the morning and I step outside, and I take a deep breath and I get real high~"

"Not too high Sky Boy," Honey was choking on giggles stuck in her throat, "there's kids around!"

Sora threw out his hips and played his guitar behind his head, "And I scream from the top of my lungs, 'what's going on?'~" Leia watched as the song began to swell upwards, Skrillex yelling at a person named Joel for adding the song to his computer, and Leia braced herself. "And I say:"

"HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA~" Leia fell back as wave upon wave of music crashed into her ribbon, and she sputtered because the glitches tasted like Skittles and they had no reason to be so spectacular when they were trying to kill her.

"HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA~" Leia narrowed her eyes and strummed for her life, using every bit of Force training Luke and Darth Vader to keep herself grounded in the game. She couldn't be swept away by the madness, she was a girl on a mission and Guitar Hero was counting on her!

"I said HEY! WHAT'S GOING ON?~" Sora bowed towards Leia with a flourish, and she kinda wanted to smack him because this was serious, darn it! But then she saw how the glitches split down the middle with his motions, clearing enough regular notes for them to clear the song without failing miserably, and Leia shook her head. Leave it to the kid to figure out how to play the game.

Choko got the idea too, and the high pitched addition to the already off key duet vaporized both the glitches and the eardrums of everyone present. But Leia clashed through the mess with an acceptable score, and as Judy held up a breathlessly laughing Skrillex, Leia let herself chuckle, just a little. The song was pretty funny.

* * *

**Sora's POV**

* * *

Sora had no idea why Leia was being all uptight. This game was awesome!

Sure, the glitches were kinda annoying and they hurt when they dog piled you into submission, but what was cooler than playing guitars and saving a game at the same time? Choko knew how it was, she sang with him in the last 3 songs and even got Honey to join in in the last one. It was a Disney song, it was built into his programming to spread the love of Disney, and they became men in the face of the typhoon of glitching notes.

And little by little, they were defeating the broken programming with the power of rock. And friendship, laughter, love, all that mushy stuff that Kairi and Riku loved to wax poetic about. Heck, they're the reason why he could use "wax poetic" in a sentence, for crying out loud!

Sora blinked as Bob kicked a can of soda at his head. His hair deflected it because his hair was awesome, but what was he supposed to be doing...? Oh yeah, Bob was asking if he needed the girls from Vocaloid to give him singing lessons. Psh, as if! Roxas from their sequel game taught him how to both be a freaking rock star and be sucky on purpose, and Sora was of the firm opinion that if it could be so terrible it wrapped around to hilarious, it was better suited for the battle against the forces of heartless and stuff. So he was pretty sure it applied to here too.

Leia smacked him upside the head and oww. Choko was giggling into her hands, and she really needed to meet Namine cuz they would get along great; tapping his chin, Sora wondered how Namine was doing. Since Mr. Litwak added Kingdom Hearts II to the console room before he left, Sora sorta kinda morphed into the data for the Sora II and was both at the same time? It meant that he was the guy running around and kicking heartless butt during game play, and since there was only one PS2 he wasn't splitting his code to be in two places at once, which was a good thing.

Still, it showed the differences between console game data and regular arcade stuff; Honey said that her friend Classic Sonic was from a previous game and morphed into his current form but he was stuck to one game. Or was Sora just stuck to one console? They were releasing a new Kingdom Hearts for the PS3 and he was pretty sure that OWW.

"Sora, get your head out of your butt and into the game!" Sora rubbed his head as Leia primly stepped back into her own ribbon, and shook his head. He needed to focus, be all zen and whatever King Mickey told him would help keep him on track, and he was violently ignoring the looks that Skrillex and Bob were giving each other. "And the song is..."Sweet Victory" by some guy."

Gentle, epic piano spawned simple notes to pound with the guitar, and Sora appreciated the overblown lyrical style. Without his prompting Choko began to sing in the deepest voice her soprano range could manage, "The winner takes all..." Rain began to fall around them, and he could see the notes beginning to fall apart in the distance. "It's the thrill of one more kill, the last one to fall!"

Sora exhaled as his mind became crystal clear, and the only thing he could do was prepare himself for the chorus. He was hyper aware of Leia relaxing from her matronly stance, Honey grinning as she held her guitar like a sword, Bob leaning in with Judy, and Skrillex quietly singing along with Choko, "Will never sacrifice their will..."

The drums heralded the explosion, and Sora rode the waves of song with his friends. "Don't ever look back, on the world closing in! Be on the attack, with your wings on the wind!" Color blazed around them as the glitch was confronted with their synched power, and Sora yelled over the noise, "Oh the games will begin!"

Bob and Judy cheered as an audience spawned around them, and Sora could only throw his head back and face the glitch head on with his humble guitar. "And it's SWEET, SWEET...SWEET VICTORY, YEAH!"

Their voices melded into the music, surging forward to sublimate the false notes. The lyrics were cleansing the playing field, and speaking the truths of the Codebusters. It was theirs for the taking, it was theirs for the fight, and they were the last to fall in the face of program errors and corruption that would dare to try and destroy a game from the inside out.

Sora was a winner, he knew that in his code and his heart, and they were going to take it all!

His guitar morphed with his Majestic Thunder, blue code sweeping outwards to transform the other controllers into weapons of mass musical salvation. They all jumped in the air to tackle the final surge of glitching notes, and they crashed with drums pounding life into the crackling code of Guitar Hero. He spared a glance towards Leia, who was looking at him with eyes filled with pure awe and joy, and he grinned; she finally got it.

They slid forward on their knees in the throes of rocking out, the guitar solos ripping through the glitches and buckling the ribbons. Everything erupted in blue star power, everything was wonderful music, and the full might of Guitar Hero was unleashed onto the glitching error. Code opened up like flowers around them, Bob not needing to access the code well because everything was laid bare. The world healed around them as they did what they were programmed to do: fix games. The glitch was destroyed, power surged through their veins, and all six Codebusters bellowed the final lingering note of the song. "AND THE WINNER TAKES ALL..."

There was silence as the raging thunderstorm—when did that show up?—evaporated and they were allowed to catch their breaths. Silence...until the audience burst into cheers, screaming their names and making Sora blush. Judy planted a big wet kiss on Skrillex and Sora helped block the sight from Choko's impressionable eyes. Honestly, these people were taking this too seriously, they were just doing their job, no need for all this gross PDA!

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

Vanellope sighed as the candy canes massaged her aching shoulders, lolling her head towards the Codebusters. Hey, she was on vacation too, and if they went off and had a mission without telling her first, then they were holding the debriefing in her relaxation room. "And—a little higher—you fixed the game completely?"

"Judy said that we actually made the game better, and told us that we were welcome any time." Skrillex and Choko were standing casually, as opposed to the other four who were giving the dark haired music maker significant looks. Suspicious...but Vanellope let it slide because massages were more important at the moment. Being a queen was tough, and she deserved all the royal perks that came with it.

Vanellope thunked her head on the table because she was getting off topic just like Marzipanne and while she loved Marzi, she couldn't afford to be a cloudcuckoolander when she was supposed to be doing her job. "Awesome. Thanks for fixing a game yadda yadda yadda you're a great asset to this arcade yadda yadda yadda now go away. Weren't you guys in Super Mario Sunshine?" Vanellope closed the curtains and relaxed back into the table.

"That's right!' Leia's voice bled through the sheer material. "If we leave now we can make our reservations at the hotel. Fruit parfait here I come." The Codebusters appeared to all leave, until Leia called out, "You coming Sonny?"

"I'll meet you there, I gotta do something first." Vanellope heard the others leave and listened to Skrillex pace quietly in the room. Vanellope pretended to snore—it wasn't hard to pretend, her candy cane men were really good at their jobs—and he waited for a few moments. "...ok Judy, you can come out now."

Judy? Vanellope heard someone with a larger mass than Skrillex collide with him, a punish yet girlish voice replying, "Was I that obvious?"

"Your dress and hair match the décor, I'll give you that, but I'd know you from anywhere." He sounded...not sad, but Vanellope struggled to pin the tone down.

She laughed in the same weird tone as him, and...Vanellope clamped her hand over her mouth to stop her squeak. She wasn't a girly girl like Choko or Marzi or Taffyta, but she knew that noise from anywhere. And for the love of vanilla ice cream, did they have to do...do that in her castle?!

They made a gross wet noise and eww, but then Skrillex was laughing a really sad laugh, and Vanellope motioned for the candy cane masseurs to slow down. "We can't do this anymore Jude, you told me so."

"I know..." She sighed really unhappy-like, and that wasn't what they were supposed to do. When you kissed someone you got married and were insufferably adorable like the Fix-Its, that was how love was supposed to work! Vanellope frowned as Judy continued, "This isn't fair to you or Johnny, I'm sorry."

"Don't be...it's fine." He paused, "It's not like I'm all that innocent either. But my friends kinda saw what you did after we fixed the game."

"Ah crap, and Honey's a gossiper, isn't she?"

"I think we're safe as long as...as long as this ends." Vanellope gasped, turning it into a snore because she wasn't going to blow her cover for anything! "You picked Johnny and I'm ok with that, and I don't know if you guys are getting back together next week or not or whatever it is that you two do, but...no more."

Judy sniffled and oh crud oh crud Vanellope was not having some random girl start crying in her castle because her weird love triangle didn't pan out. Vanellope was about to pretend to wake up and throw them out before Judy snorted in a much happier tone, "It wouldn't have worked out anyway, short order. You need a girl who can give you the time of day."

"And you need a guy who's smarter than a Minecraft pig." They both laughed in normal happy tones, and Vanellope silently exhaled in relief. "I gotta get back to Sunshine since you ruined my vacation, you punk. I'll see you later?"

"You bet, Sonny brat." They left the room talking about cheerful not awkward love stuff, and Vanellope stared at the cinnamon swirls in the marble beneath her.

She was glad she was too young to really understand this love business; Choko could deal with that mess on her own time. But still...she made a mental note to have Nilla gift the DJ Hero 2 cast with fresh pastries once the arcade opened again. Ralph said that pies always made those with love problems feel better—she wondered who, since Felix and Calhoun were soul mates and Ralph didn't know much other women that Vanellope knew of—and what kind of queen would let her number one Codebusters suffer from icky romance problems?

* * *

"Sirena Beach is so lovely, so worth the reservations."

"Wait, what's that in the water?"

"Sonny-kun, did the music just change?"

"Mantra rays!"

"Foking electric mantra rays on my foking vacation..."

"Sora! Bust out the boombox, our mission ain't over yet!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S DONE! IT'S FINALLY DONE! *dies of happiness*
> 
> Ok, onto the glitch. Guitar Hero Arcade is based off of Guitar Hero 3, and there is a song from that game that is impossible. Literally, there are so many notes that I think the guitar controller won't let you hit them all because there's too much input going in. I figured that one day, those insane notes got jumbled up in the song matrix of the game, and suddenly everywhere there were terrible, terrible glitching notes...I get flashbacks of it.
> 
> "Good Galaxy Mash Up" comes from Super Mario Galaxy, and is Good Egg Galaxy, Battlerock Galaxy, and Bower's Road strung together. "HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA" is...well, look that one up and imagine Sora singing to it. The last song featured is "Sweet Victory", and if you've seen Spongebob before, it's the ending song from Band Geeks. Look it up, it's hilariously 80s epic.
> 
> I brought in the other Codebusters! You like them? I tried to give them their own voices (Bob=only sane man, Leia=defrosting ice princess, Sora=...Sora) and I'd like feedback on how they did. If you liked them, maybe I could add them in again whenever I have a really tough time making a chapter.
> 
> Sora brings up my theory on console game characters. As anyone who has ever shared a game or has a used game knows, data is carried on the consoles, not the games themselves. Therefore, they live in the consoles and power strip, and whenever a sequel game on the same console shows up, identical characters morph together. Since they can't suffer from priority conflict (you can't play Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II on the same console at the same time), they more or less are perfectly fine. Different consoles have different people (if there are two PS2s with the same two KH games, it results in two different Soras), and sequels on different platforms don't have character morphing (the characters of the Super Smash Bros series don't morph together as each game is on its own console). It's a simple idea that takes a long time to explain XD
> 
> Skrillex's failed relationship with Judy Nails is a reference to his relationship with Ellie Goulding; both were wonderful together but it just didn't work out. Poor Vanellope had to listen to them, but don't worry: this is the last time that Judy plays such a big part in the story. Not that romance isn't going to be a part of this story of course (Honey and C. Sonic, anyone?).
> 
> Mr. Litwak's other nephew is George from a modern telling of Paperman. In the family tree I have, Stan Litwak has two brothers; one has two kids named George, an accountant who marries a nice girl named Meg, and, Sam who is a bartender. The other has three kids: housewife Theresa, game extraordinaire Toby, and little high schooler Tiffany. None of these people are gonna be big players like Toby Litwak, but George and Meg are nice excuse for this plot to happen. I also adore Paperman to death, so sue me.
> 
> ...I don't have much to say other than that THANK JEEBUZ IT'S FINNALY OVER, so I hope you liked it? I didn't :(


	19. Katamari Damacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters goes to Katamari Damacy and the author loses her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sets buildings on fire*
> 
> WELL, I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE UPDATED BY NOW. But as you can see, THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. Also, there was going to be a different game for this chapter, but that ALSO DIDN'T HAPPEN.
> 
> Honestly, I'm having the worst luck with this story. Hopefully it'll get better because I really REALLY want to get to chapter 20 and what happens after that :(
> 
> Just a note: the power strip in the arcade game room is Game Central Station/GCS. The one in the home console room is Game Play Station/GPS. There are two in the computer room, which are Game West Station/GWS and Game East Station/GES. The Codebusters are going to GPS today.
> 
> And another random note: why didn't anyone catch me calling Amy from Sonic the Fighters Classic Amy instead of Rosie the Rascal?! It was a HUGE research fail, I apologize deeply, and I'm going back into previous chapters to fix that :/
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Disney (Sugar Rush), SEGA (Sonic the Fighters), Activision (DJ Hero 2), or Namco (Katamari Damacy)

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

 

Skrillex smiled indulgently as Choko and Honey splashed around in the mineral water lake. They had returned from their vacation/team building with the other Codebusting core intact yesterday, and since Mr. Litwak was returning tomorrow, they were enjoying the final day of their free time. Leia and her team were currently investigating glitches in Donkey Kong, the other DJs were cooking up chaos back home, and Skrillex inhaled the crisp, subtle scent of Sugar Rush's sugar free zone.

Queen Van had set up shop a bit down the Splenda sand beach, soaking up the lemon drop sun with Taffyta and Snowanna. The boy racers were drowning each other further out with Pollipop and Sour Apple helping, and various other children were acting like children, making Skrillex grin like and idiot because they were just so foking adorable. Honey stuck her tongue out at him and he shrugged off his long sleeve shirt. Obviously someone needed to teach her to keep her tongue in her mouth, and after she teased him mercilessly about the Judy affair he was more than willing.

Storming the carbonated water, he picked up a shrieking Honey and threw her over his shoulder, yelling back at a hysterical Choko, “Quickly, we must put this woman on trial for witchcraft before she escapes!” Running towards Queen Van, Skrillex was flanked by laughing racers, who were all chanting 'Drown the witch!' as Honey played up her role and snarled that she would all bake them into pies if she got her hands on them.

Queen Van snorted at them, adjusting her sunglasses and sitting primly as Taffyta and Snowanna snickered. “As Presidential Queen of Sugar Rush, I hereby skip the trial and permit you to execute the witch before she turns us all into pies and other assorted sweets. The method...by drowning her in the club soda springs!”

Honey mock-wailed as the racers began an execution march, Choko mock-solemnly offering her the last Ritz cracker rites. The club soda springs bubbled merrily by the lake, and with the boys drum rolling on their knees, Skrillex promptly threw Honey in. She sank in for a moment, then was shot out by a geyser into the lake, and the racers cheered. “The witch is dead!”

“But how do I know if you're not a witch, Sour Apple?!” Marzipanne pointed accusingly, and Skrillex threw the laughing green-haired girl into the geysers, followed by her accuser to make sure. This began a witch hunt with everyone being blasted into the water, Choko dragging Skrillex into the springs with her.

Skrillex resurfaced from the clean, sparkling water, and was surprised when the lingering guilt and emotional weight from Judy didn't surface with him. The kids were splashing around, Honey was giving Choko and Bubblebetty dual piggy back rides, everything was just...right. He smiled, exhaling softly, and looked up at the sun set in the pale mint sky. Even if karma decided to throw danger his way again, he didn't really mind.

Karma came in the form of this little green boy, who rolled up to the lake on a sticky pink ball. He only came up to Choko's shoulders, and Skrillex began to grin; he knew what game the boy was from, and life was about to get the good kind of dangerous. “Welcome to Sugar Rush, Your Highness.” The racers perked up and turned towards the boy. “Can we help you?”

“I need your help!” All the girls sighed when the green boy waved his arms, either out of adorableness or attraction, and Honey struggled to keep Choko and Bubblebetty from melting into the water. “My game, Katamari Damacy, is out of control! I know that you're busy and all, but if you could...”

Skrillex stretched, eyes on the shower stations located in giant clear glass bottles along the beach. “Not a problem at all, Your Highness. Just give us a few minutes.”

The Prince then was swarmed by some of the racers, oddly shaped head barely visible. Honey laughed as Choko ran out of the water to get changed, and she turned towards Skrillex. “So I guess vacation time is completely over? Shame, I like swimming more than a cat should.”

“Her Queenliness did say that they were spending the rest of our break between here and the blue raspberry beach, so we can always come back once we're done.” Trekking out of the bubbly waves, he yelled over his shoulder at Queen Van who was flirting it up with the Prince, “We'll be right out, so just keep him company!”

Vanellope looked ready to marry the poor kid on the spot; Skrillex had nothing to worry about.

* * *

 

After they dragged a kiss-stained Prince away from the giggling crowd—thankfully Choko was in the “aww my new baby brother” camp, Skrillex couldn't handle another Megaman—the Codebusters boarded a rather busy train to GPS. The Prince chirped as they landed in his power strip, “My game's in the PS2. I would've asked Mr. Sora to help since we live in the same console, but he's busy in the arcade room today.”

“Don't worry Prince-hiko, we'll have your game working before you know it!” Choko smiled, all cleaned up and smelling like soda, and the two kids linked arms and skipped into the PS2. Skrillex shook his head; they were too cute too early in the...he was pretty sure it was still afternoon. Darn non-arcade hours screwing up his sense of time.

Various characters were milling by their save ports in the console, Choko waving to her new Thursday sleepover best friends Namine and Alice. Making a mental note to invite them to Sugar Rush once they were done, Skrillex turned towards the Prince. “So I'm assuming your game disc is the one in the console?”

“Yes, otherwise we'd have even more problems! This way!” The Prince led them into his game hub, the Codebusters shrinking in size to match the teensy world of Katamari. Skrillex turned to view all the stars and planets glittering, and he had to admit that this was a lovely designed game. Honey started giggling as Choko gasped, and Skrillex turned back towards them. They were much...much taller than he remembered...he looked down and shrieked. “I'm ant-sized!!”

Now he barely came up to the Prince's knees! His hands were pin pricks even to his perspective, and how the fok was he supposed to save the world if he was literally pocket-sized?! At least Choko was a bit shorter than the Prince now to make up for Honey's freakishly tall high of 8 cm, but why was he shorter than the Sugar Rush girl? Skrillex crossed his arms and pouted; this was so unfair. “Do they even make katamari balls this size?”

“I'll ask the king.” The Prince puffed up to his full height of 5 cm, then yelled at the sky in his tiny child voice, “Father, I brought the Codebusters to fix our game!”

The stars and planets disappeared, and in his full glory the King of All Cosmos appeared in front of the four. Crossing his arms and letting his majestic cape drape past the planet, the King spoke, “Ah, we are happy to welcome the Codebusters to our realm. Very happy, most happy.” He looked down on them, “And we can see that Honey is of a most impressive stature. Yes, she is much larger than you, inchling prince, you must follow her example.” Discs from other dimensions scratched as he continued, “Choko is a bit small, but we expected that. We think that she is very cute, so her size is forgiven...but YOU, Sonny Moore, have no such excuse!”

Skrillex froze as the King continued, “We expected much more of a Codebuster, yet you are smaller than even our puny son! Very disappointing, I will have to cut a katamari in half to suit your pitiful form.”

“I AM NOT PITIFUL!” Skrillex waved his fists and raged at the cosmos in a voice that was way too high pitched for his liking, “I AM NOT PUNY, I AM FUN SIZED! And stop being mean to your son, he's the only reason why we're here you JERK FACE!”

The King was unimpressed. “We believe that we may have heard something. Perhaps it was the unbalance of the game screaming out to be resolved. Yes, it's very tragic what's happened to us. But no more talking, now is the time for great action!”

The world grew dark and Skrillex could only grab onto Choko's pinky finger and wait to be brought back down the earth.

* * *

 

**Honey's POV**

* * *

 

Honey blinked; she and the others were in the middle of an average Japanese town, their own katamaris waiting to be rolled. “So where is the—”

A giant glitching ball of pixels ripped through from the left, leveling buildings and dragging the game's boundary into the sea. Immediately items fell from the sky to reform the destroyed area, but everyone screamed on principle. Honey could just barely hear Skrillex's baby helium voice squeak out, “What the fok was that?”

The King's head floated down, distant eyes focusing on the farther destruction. “Take as much time as you need to destroy the most evil false katamari balls. And do try to get bigger, you must all strive to make yourselves and your katamaris large and luminous like starts!”

The King floated away and groups of blockily animated children ran for their lives as another false katamari destroyed the school. The Prince wrung his hands, then turned towards the Codebusters. “I think we have to roll up enough stuff so we get bigger than the glitches breaking everything. If we ram them with large enough katamaris, we can break them apart.”

“Sounds like a plan!” Honey pressed her hands to her sticky golden ball, and felt giddiness course through her veins as she picked up a thumb tac. Oh, let the games begin... “We should split up to get all the things. Prince, you're the expert here, where should we go?”

“R-Right!” The Prince motioned with his slightly smaller green katamari, “Miss Choko and Mr. Skrillex should go into houses, since those have things small enough for them.” He waited for Skrillex to stop raging, then added, “We can start outside, Ms. Honey; I'll head to the beach and you can handle the streets. Just avoid moving things like cars and cats that will knock things off your katamari, and you should be fine!”

Choko cheered and pushed Skrillex down the street towards the open access homes. “We'll try our very hardest, Prince-hiko! Good luck to everyone, dattebane!”

“Have fun! Stay out of the streets!” Honey sighed softly as they rolled away; honestly, she was turning into a big softie, she needed to stop worrying about her totally competent Codebusting friends. Turning towards the Prince, Honey grinned, “On your lead, Your Highness.”

“Then here we go!”

They split up, Honey rolling down the street and picking up copious amounts of gum packs, takoyaki balls and erasers. Honestly, this town was in desperate need of a garbage cleaning service; maybe that's why the King sent his son to this particular area? Honey swerved to avoid a too-large horseshoe and engorged herself on ping pong balls and eye drops. Yep, these people needed a littering seminar.

The earth began to shake and Honey was launched into the air as a giant wrecking glitch tore through her street. Shrieking—she did NOT want to get sucked into that beast!—she pinwheeled wildly and landed on a rooftop. She was spared for the moment, and exhaled in relief. That was close.

Then the sky began to rain debris ranging from buttons to people, and Honey shrank. “This is gonna suck...”

Yelling in righteous fear-fury, she stormed off the side of the roof and landed in a playground, picking up a frog and three dandelions for her trouble. She looked up and saw a literal feast pf foods and balls waiting to be absorbed into her katamari, and charged like a hamplanet towards a all-you-can-eat buffet. Her sticky ball growing in size, she span around in a dizzying swirl of colors before regaining her balance, already at 30 cm. Impressive, but not impressive enough; if she was the ideal that the King was pushing on the Prince and Skrillex, then she needed to step up her game.

A dog suddenly came to knock her out of the playground, taking quite a bit of material with him. Honey shook her fists at the mangy mutt—he'll get his, she was coming after him once she was big enough!—but then broke into a devious cat grin. She was in an alleyway of boxes and carts and soda bottles, and at the end of the alley was a debris flow filled with junk small enough for her katamari.

Oh yes, let the games begin.

* * *

 

**Choko's POV**

* * *

 

Choko giggled as she collected three mice; they squeaked so cutely when she captured them into her katamari, it almost made her feel bad for doing so. The floor of the house's front room was being cleared up nicely, her katamari covered in caramels and buttons and sushi; she was really doing these people a favor, their homes needed a very thorough cleaning!

A muffled squeak from behind made Choko sigh; poor Skrillex-kun was not having a very good time. Even the tiniest of buttons were a challenge for him to acquire, and she constantly worried about smushing her friend. Eying an exit out of the house, she called behind her, “There should be some smaller things left here, Sonny-kun! I'll clear the outside.”

“...kay!” Skrillex-kun was battling a swarm of peppermints underneath the stairs, zipping around like a tiny black beetle. Choko forced herself from smiling at that—he wouldn't appreciate her finding humor in his tiny size—and rolled out of the house.

In the far distance she could make out giant balls of pixelated, glitchy doom tearing up the city. Faint screams made her stomach uneasy, but she resolved herself to grow larger. This game was counting on her, and she was certainly due for a growth spurt!

Singing along to the cheerful music, Choko burst into the backyard and devoured a garden that thankfully had many carrots and daikon radishes. The pink of her ball was invisible under her haul, and why was it so fun to roll up random objects? Choko cheered with delight as she ramped into another area, growing larger by the second. She was up to a meter, it was simply fabulous because now—

“AHHHHHHH!”

“O-Oh, sumimasen! I-If you—”

“WHAT'S HAPPENING?”

“P-Please remain calm! I just need—”

“EHUEHUEHUEHUE!”

“Oh, it's pointless! Move it or join in, mina-san, I'm shifting gears!”

Choko plowed through the group of people, legs sporadically kicking out of her katamari as she gained their mass. Surely they were fine; Prince-hiko was a very kind boy, he wouldn't be so twisted as to cause unnecessary pain on innocents such as Precious and Watermelon Boy! Really, she was being very wishy-washy in her sudden doubts! Steeling her resolve, Choko started rolling up a fence; best to have a bit of foundation for her healthy ball.

Catching something in her peripheral, she turned to see Skrillex bounding by her katamari. He was still very tiny, about 10 cm or so, and she ran around her katamari. “Sonny-kun, do you need—” Choko shrieked as a large ox rammed her katamari into Skrillex. He was absorbed into the mess and dear Tobikomi, what if she crushed him, into paste?! “Sonny-kun!”

Her katamari slowly began to spin, and she stepped back. Debris was sucked into its pull as both katamaris grew exponentially, and with a large dizzying push the two now very large sticky balls flew away from each other. Skrillex resurfaced, eyes wide with disbelief, and Choko could just hear him say, “If you put two katamaris together outside of versus mode...their powers combine and go crazy...katamarinception!”

“...eh?”

“Choko! We gotta go find Honey and the Prince! I know how to get rid of the false katamaris faster than Sora's attention span!”

As luck would have it, the cul-de-sac they were in was destroyed by Honey-chan's giant katamari. Her friend was laughing maniacally, screaming about ultimate power or something, and the Prince-hiko was close to follow, invisible behind his behemoth of a ball. Honey-chan grinned down at them, “Did someone say katamari?!”

* * *

 

“Ok, so let's go over the plan one more time. Honey?”

“I charge the Prince and you so we hit at the same time.”

“Your Highness?”

“Then I spin wildly to bring in more debris to the katamarinception.”

“And Choko?”

“Once you three become bigger than reality should allow, I'll lure in the false katamaris so you guys can destroy them.”

“Perfect. Let's do this!”

Choko waved as her three companions took their corners, ready to break the game's programming to save it. Adrenaline and an odd sort of euphoria filled her mind at the thought of such giant katamari action; was this why people loved this game? She certainly had to bring Roll-chan here, the cleaning bot would go absolutely crazy if she could copy the sticky ball's power. Fighting down the urge to giggle, Choko sang along with the background as Skrillex-kun revved his katamari, “Na naa, nanananana na na, na naa na nana naa...”

As flowers and giant mushrooms rained from the sky, they began to roll towards each other. The ground shook, people screamed, and Choko swore she saw the King of All Cosmos mindlessly rambling about bananas in a corner. This was madness, this was worse than the Spartian simulator in the computer room, and Choko loved it.

“Na naa, nanananana na na, na naa na nana naa, KATAMARI DAMACY”

They collided with a shattering crash that threw Choko and her katamari into the air, where she could see the inception of a real 獣 (kemono) of a katamari. A large black ball zipped around the joined surfaces of Honey-chan's and the Prince-hiko's balls, growing large enough to swallow the sky if Skrillex-kun so pleased.

Now they were counting on her! Choko landed by the slightly less impressive false katamaris, spinning around crazily as she sucked in more sparkling new items. The glitches accepted her challenge, and she ran for her life, wildly crashing over the landscape that she wasn't big enough to flat out crush underneath her. In other situations Choko may have screamed like a little sissy, but wow, since when did being chased by ravenous glitch monsters become euphoric? No wonder Honey-chan was having so much fun!

Choko exhaled sharply; her friends' katamaris were even bigger from the ground perspective. Skrillex-kun came charging forward, and Choko clenched her fists; this was it! “Banzai!!

She was absorbed into his katamari, joined by Honey-chan and the Prince-hiko, and their katamaris grew into the stratosphere. The glitches rammed into their collective sides and Choko swore she could reach up and cup the constellations. The false katamaris couldn't handle their greater magnitude and mass, and exploded below in a shower of debris that was eagerly collected. The earth was absorbed beneath them, and for a pristine moment, they floated beyond the normal reaches of the game.

Gold sparkles flitted by her face, and Choko dimly heard the Prince-hiko whisper, “It's stardust!”

* * *

 

**Honey's POV**

* * *

 

The King came and threw up a royal rainbow on them to teleport their giant katamari of doom to the results screen. Honey stood proudly with the others as the freakishly giant cosmic lord stated with great gravity, “Eeee-ha! It's floating, but it's not a dream. The entire world in your katamari! So supple, so substantial, we are moved to tears by your offering.”

“And the false katamaris have also been moved, straight into nonexistence. We are somewhat disturbed by your actions, but we cannot ignore the magnitude of this hefty katamari! It shall rebuild the earth and cosmos in one final push!” The giant clump of stuff rose into the cosmos, and with a flash of light Honey felt the game internally reset.

The King looked down on them, “I am most impressed by our hardworking Prince, and you even seem in our eyes to have grown just a bit more than usual! We are most happy with this new development, yes we are.” The Prince was blushing and so happy, and Honey smiled; she knew that the guy would come around to appreciate the kid.

“And cute young Choko has also been a hard worker! How delightful to see her growth as well, we believe wholeheartedly.” Choko was wringing her hands and beaming, and Honey choked down a laugh when the King slyly added, “Perhaps a marriage to our Prince, hmm?” The kids in question squeaked and the King continued, “Perhaps not, as you both still need a little more time.”

“Honey has lived up to her height today, we are most impressed! A Royal Present for the vivacious and Amazonian Honey!” A present opened from above and a sparkly new headband landed in Honey's hands. She grinned; this was freaking awesome!

The King crossed his arms, “And we believe that now is the time for cake—”

“WHAT?!” Skrillex was self-destructing, screaming at the lack of respect. Honey had to admit that without him the katamarinception wouldn't have come into being; the King should at least acknowledge his presence, just a little!

“Hmm, we believe that we have heard something. Oh yes, Sonny, you have grown just a bit bigger. You must strive to grow even larger of course, but for now we can tolerate your small expansion.” While Skrillex simmered—he was repeating a Jedi mantra to avoid the Dark Side or something—the King waved his arms and Honey couldn't see past the swirling lights. “Yes, it is certainly time for cake! Mother, where is the cake for our Codebusters? We must celebrate the return of our game!

Honey laughed and grabbed onto her friends, letting the stardust flash past her eyes. For a game that made absolutely no sense and was the stupidest sort of fun, she couldn't imagine anything better than cake at the moment.

* * *

 

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

 

Vanellope watched as a giant katamari made of candy canes and gum balls ramped into the air and crashed into the blue raspberry sea. All the candy brats and random friends screamed with rapturous delight as they hit the water, and Ralph grinned, “I gotta get on that once they reform!”

“Get in line pal, everyone in the arcade wants some katamari action.” Vanellope was lounging on the Presidential Queen Seat overlooking the chaos, surrounded by sun bathers who were tired out from the adrenaline rushes that come with should-be-lethal fun times. All of her Codebusters, after checking in and patching up the various injuries that they always got, were in the middle of the chaos, and Vanellope smiled.

When Choko's team came back victorious with the King, Queen, and Prince of All Cosmos—Vanellope needed the recipe for their cake, there was just so much glorious cake!—Skrillex mentioned wanting to invite Choko's friends to the All-Day Vacation Finale Bash. There was just so much cake to go around after all, so Vanellope also invited the other Codebusters once they returned from Donkey Kong. Then Sora got the good idea to bring friends, and obviously the party needed more music so all of Skrillex's friends came, and suddenly Sugar Rush was the epicenter of yet another gigantic event.

Everyone from Kingdom Hearts to TRON was at the butterscotch sanded beach, and Vanellope got to work on her meet n' greeting skills. She secured a trade alliance with the Candy Craze racers for more pixy stick power ups, she and Ralph played chicken with the guys from Team Fortress 2, and she finally met that Megaman that had Choko's coding all up in a twist; Vanellope couldn't tease Choko anymore because the blue bastard was too freaking attractive to ignore.

The lemon yellow sun illuminated Sora helping the Prince and his cousins assembling another katamari, Ralph leaving to join the chaos. Farther out in the sea Bob and the King were surfing giant blue raspberry waves generated by the Wind Waker cast, and closer to the shore Leia and her cute brother were helping the Fix-Its create a...sandopolis was a better word than mere “castle”.

Set up on a stage surrounded by partying candy people and various arcade jumpers, Skrillex and deadmau5 were making wonderful music. Vanellope recognized her fanfare getting thrown around and approved heartily, making a note to ask them for an official Sugar Rush remix soundtrack. The Queen and the other Vanellopes from the home console room were shooting the breeze on a reinforced beach swing that had a perfect view of Honey chasing after a group of shrieking Toads. Vanellope laughed; they should've known better than to steal her beach towel, especially when its was a gift from her boyfriend!

Someone had parked a recognizer and it was being used as a base for jumping into the sea. Vanellope spotted Choko and Roll pushing Mee Mee in, surrounded by other laughing girls from Choko's Thursday sleepovers. Then Megaman and Protoman threw all of them in, jumping after in a twisted version of princess saving; that started a war between the throwers and jumpers, and Vanellope set down her smoothie; she needed on this action.

They were all laughing and having the time of their lives, and the ruler of Sugar Rush couldn't help but be infected with laughter when she hit the water at the same time as Ralph falling off the katamari and soaking her in the resulting splash.

The party would last for another few hours before they all went off to their own games to prepare for the end of their vacation. But even though they were returning to work, Vanellope had no doubt that the fun times would never truly come to and end.

* * *

 

**Mr. Litwak's POV**

* * *

 

Stan Litwak smiled as his nephew flopped onto his ratty old sofa, made boneless by jet lag. After the wedding to George and his lovely Meg, catching up with his kooky relatives out east and making sure that Toby and his group of friends stayed out of trouble, Stan was pretty tired too. But then again, he didn't make his living jetting from arcade to game expo like Toby did, so he had room to rib at his nephew. “What's the matter son, did your lady friends tire you out?" 

“As if he could keep up with us.” Toby's three friends laughed as they brought their luggage to the spare room, the shortest girl taking time to toe off her shoes at the door. Her name was Miyoko Tobigawa-Martinez, the wonderful young lady the one who supplied Stan with all the newest Nintendo and Tobikomi games, and she added with a wave in Toby's direction, “He's a useless baby who doesn't got this. Tiffany got this more than he does, and she goes to bed at nine.”

“Leave my sister out of this, Misha.” Toby's voice was muffled by the pillow, his glasses skewing off his face. “Just pick out a movie, any movie without Nick Cage in it.”

“Without the True God? That's blasphemy, Toby!” Adia Horne, the young lady who drew caricatures of George and Meg at the wedding, came in to sit on Toby's back, laughing when he finally got off his lazy side and gave her room on the sofa. “I don't know how he's related to you Mr. Stan, surely some of your coolness should've rubbed off on him by now.”

Stan let the three argue it out as he went into the kitchen to make popcorn. His lazy cat meowed and strolled off into Adia's lap, and he could hear the three making plans for tomorrow. They were jetting out to the next place in need of their “expertise”, but were coming over to the arcade before hours so they could indulge in their favorites. Toby loved Fix-It Felix, Misha was a pro at Hero's Duty, Adia favored anything with fighters, and their friend was the biggest fan of—

“S U G A R, jump into your racing cart is SUGAR RUSH! SUGAR RUSH!”

“Really princess, is that necessary?” Misha snorted as she tapped away on her iGadget thingamabob, “I get that you wrote the last two stories to those games DeeDee, but aren't you supposed to be a Jedi Princess?”

“If I'm a princess, I get whatever kind of phone alarms I want.” Deidre Chamberlain, the young lady who educated Stan on everything from Star Wars to Princess Peach over the past week, came in and threw pillows at her friends. “And the princess demands that we watch a movie that has at least mediocre dialogue, you guys don't want to hear me whining the entire time, do you?”

While they argued between Disney movies and 80s classics, Stan leaned on the counter top and sighed contentedly. They were doing more at 20 than Stan did, yet they were still the little brats that tore up his arcade like years before. Pouring the popcorn into a bowl, he wedged himself between Toby, currently slap fighting DeeDee, and the armrest, his cat nuzzling his leg.

Their vacation time may have been over, but they were certainly lucky enough to have jobs and lives that were just as fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -hiko: literally the male version of hime, so it means prince. There are better honorifics in both cases, but since Choko is using the more fictional appropriate -hime, it makes sense for her to use -hiko.
> 
> dattebane: just an expression of enthusiasm. This was used by the outgoing Uzumaki Kushina in Naruto, and since Choko is becoming more and more open and out of her shell, it seemed appropriate. Fun fact: Choko is secretly mortified whenever she says this, because it's “unbecoming to a proper lady” or something along those lines.
> 
> 獣 (kemono): beast
> 
> Most of this was an excuse plot to make fun of Skrillex's height and make my friend cry. Also Katamari Damacy IS an excuse game: rolling around and making giant sticky katamari balls to eventually swallow the earth and make stars in the sky? Either they got high and stole one of my crazier bedtime stories or this is a work of ART.
> 
> The glitch was that a couple of katamaris glitched out and started destroying the game area. The game would try and compensate by mass dumping material into the places the glitch tore up, but that ended up making things worse. Once the false katamaris were destroyed however, the glitch was broken. No big drama, no insane twist ending, just getting rid of the glitch. Be disappointed.
> 
> Oh, and Toby's friends? Yep, those are me and two others from real life, with fake names and exaggerated jobs.
> 
> Miyoko “Misha” Tobigawa-Martinez: The daughter and heir of Tobikomi president Matsuo Tobigawa, Misha was raised in both her father's gaming world and her mother's low key life in America. She met DeeDee in high school, Adia through Dee and Toby through her father scouting for talent. Showing promise as the future Tobikomi leader, she's the one who funds Toby's travels.
> 
> In real life, she's my best friend and keeps me writing even when I don't want to.
> 
> Adia Horne: An artist since the age of five, Adia sent in fan art of Mario to Nintendo and got to work on Super Mario Sunshine as a result. One of the youngest acclaimed video game art designers, she met DeeDee when they both went to work on Sugar Rush: Candy Craze, and got sucked into Toby's crack pot team with mock reluctance. 
> 
> In real life, she's reindeerhorns from tumblr who made artwork for me and she is a total babe for doing so.
> 
> Deidre “DeeDee” Chamberlain: DeeDee began writing at the age of two, publishing stories at the age of ten, and had producers from all sorts of media hounding for her once she started high school. Meeting Misha and becoming best friends, she was sent to Tobikomi to work on Sugar Rush: Candy Craze and met Adia, forming a trio of awesome video game ladies. When Toby started making games for Tobikomi, three became four and she hasn't looked back since.
> 
> In real life this is me, and I want to be like DeeDee (insert Batman Beyond reference) when I grow up lol
> 
> I'M FINALLY DONE WITH CHAPTER 19.
> 
> NOW I GET TO DO CHAPTER 20.
> 
> AND BELIEVE ME, YOU'RE GONNA LIKE CHAPTER 20.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and forgive me for being a horrible updater. I've lost nearly all inspiration for writing in general, but I refuse to abandon this story!


	20. Pocket God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to Pocket God and die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...it's finally come to this.
> 
> Chapter 20.
> 
> Aww yiss.
> 
> Even as this story evolved and took me away from its original concepts, this has always been ch 20, and I'm so glad to finally be able to write it for you lovely readers.
> 
> This may be shorter than the others, this may be less action packed...but this is the one that matters.
> 
> Oh, and prepare yourselves, because if ch 10 and 15 were bad, then this is a real doozy
> 
> Disclaimer: Disney owns Sugar Rush, SEGA owns Sonic the Fighters (WHY IS THIS GAME SO INCONSISTENT WITH ITS MATERIAL), Activision owns DJ Hero 2, and Bolt Creative owns Pocket God

**Choko's POV**

* * *

The alarm came when Choko was loitering around the Royal Racetrack with Vanellope-heika. Everyone froze then scrambled to their positions, Taffyta yelling as she clamored into her cart, "But it's only 6 in the morning! We don't open until 9!"

"Well whatever's going on, just calm down and look pretty!" Vanellope-heika quickly shrugged on her frilly mint dress, and Choko looked out of the screen from her position in the back. Mr. Litwak-sama was leading in four young adults, one male and three females, and she gasped as Vanellope-heika murmured from the podium, "That explains some things."

Choko had never seen the famous Toby Litwak-sama and his entourage in person before, as she was kinda deleted for all the previous visits. But she saw how Mr. Litwak-sama seemed so proud to show the younger adults his arcade, and it was very sweet if not nerve-wracking.

Toby-sama was a lanky, freckled pale boy with messy brown hair falling over his bespectacled green eyes. His nose was impressively large and he constantly fiddled and adjusted his respectable long-sleeved button up white shirt, but he and his uncle had the same easy-going posture and they sounded the same to her ears; Skrillex-kun probably could analyze the similarities there. He went off to play Fix-It Felix, Jr., and his mild, somewhat...sarcastic expression melted into pure joy.

The bishoujo currently manning the Street Fighter II console had the darkest skin of the three girls, her even darker brown eyes narrow with intensity. Her lavender tunic and green cargo shorts were stained with what looked like paint and charcoal marks, and Choko spied a notepad and pencil hooked to the woman's waist. Toby-sama called her Adia, and as she looked back to yell over to him with a slight swish of brunette hair, Choko found Adia-sama to be quite pretty in the arcade light.

Choko could tell that the shortest girl was at least half Japanese, that understanding came from within her coding. Her prim black bob shook as she destroyed masses of cy-bugs at Hero's Duty, and she was...she was singing to the soundtrack; the girl must've been a Skrillex fan, Skrillex-kun would be proud. Her clothing was pure casual lolita, blue skirts and floating lace, and Choko recognized the girl with a fizzle of code and a large gasp. She was Miyoko Tobigawa-Martinez, the girl whose father ran Tobikomi and personally oversaw the Sugar Rush series! Choko was glad Miyoko-ojou was playing another game, because Choko would simply  _die_  if she played the game more or less made for her!

The final young woman was the tallest of the three, around the height of Toby-sama with her own pink glasses, and Choko admired how her curly brown hair formed a fabulous afro/bob to frame her face. She skipped up to Sugar Rush, wearing a Princess Peach shirt and high waisted white skirt, and she grinned with mischievous honey brown eyes, "Let's see how my childhood holds up in the modern age."

Choko was selected, and she hid her squeal of enthusiasm under her revving engine. Once the race started she was boosted into the lead, and not even Vanellope-heika's teleportation could touch her hold on first place. Choko dominated all the beginning cups and moderate challenges, and she hardly noticed the time flying since she too was flying over the racetrack, in arcade Nirvana. By the time the girl was done thrashing Sugar Rush, Choko was floating on cotton candy clouds; she approved of Toby-sama's lady friends, oh yes she did.

"DeeDee, we're heading out!" DeeDee-sama quickly scampered off, and Choko slid out of her cart as the four followed Mr. Litwak-sama into his personal office. Yuni-san declared the arcade closed again, and Choko watched with just a bit of glee that Taffyta was completely in shock.

But before she could fangirl over their early morning surprise, her Action Replay went off. Choko frowned lightly; that couldn't be good. "Hello?"

" _Hey babydoll!"_  Skrillex-kun's voice seemed upbeat and lacking of end-times stress, so that was a good sign.  _"Surge is complaining about proper quarantines of games since Leia was fixing up Frogger when Mr. Toby and the Arcade Pixies showed up. Do you think you can come down here and help me calm his electronic tits?"_

"Oh Sonny-kun, so vulgar!" Choko pouted as a near by Gloyd-kun and Snowanna-chan giggled at Skrillex-kun's obscenity. Honestly, it was like she was the only one with proper social values around here! Shrugging off those dour thoughts, she responded that she'd be there in a few shakes and turned to Vanellope-heika. "I must go and help my Codebusters, I'll be back shortly."

"Make sure you don't get lost again, Miss Pockystix!" Vanellope waved, violet eyes sparkling deviously. "You still owe me laps for that Minecraft drama!"

With that painful reminded Choko quickly sped to the exit, forgoing her Codemobile for time. Using the cord carts to enter GCS, she found Skrillex-kun and Honey-chan yawning as the Blue Codebuster core (Choko found it clever how Leia-hime and her teams' uniforms had blue Cs instead of red, it made the cores just that more distinct) conversed with the Surge Protector. "Ohaiyo gozaimasu!"

"Good morning to you too." Honey-chan stretched a bit, new headband sparkling against her dark hair. "And what a morning today's been. I got played for a good bit, I'm surprised I'm still tired after beating in Dr. Robotnik's face."

"To be fair it is too early for this, fun or otherwise." Skrillex-kun motioned at his hair, which still had...Choko giggled into her palms as he pulled out a baby pink curler. "And the guys will never let me live this down, I can promise you."

While her friends watched the Surge Protector grill the sleepy Blue core about stuff that went in Choko's left ear and flew out the left, she looked around at the quiet GCS. Everyone must've been sleeping or trying to sneak out of games they got stuck in red-handed, from Tappers to Burger Time to... "Ah, what's this?" Choko walked up to a port she swore was empty the last time she checked, but here it was, cheerfully beckoning her inside. She hesitated , but walked into the mysterious port.

The inside was a stark, beautiful white compared to the worn green and beige of the other game ports. Wires glowed like her game's tunnel to the code well, and she walked down the rather thin cord to whatever game was waiting on the other side. A gloved hand suddenly caught her wrist, and Choko squeaked as Honey-chan scolded, "And what kind of Leeroy Jenkins are you pulling, Choko?"

Skrillex-kun laughed as Honey-chan tore her a new lesson of waiting for her friends to go exploring new and potentially lethal rabbit holes, Choko bowing her head in shame. But...but they needed to see this game anyway; perhaps Toby-sama brought a new game in before the arcade opened! Honey-chan stopped, then nodded thoughtfully. "That would explain why the Surge is so agitated about quarantines; new game procedure and everything."

"Then let's go welcome the new guys before the Surge Man yells at us for not following those dumb procedures." Skrillex-kun walked further down the cord, and it was incredibly short, they could already see the light on the other side! They stepped into the game and titled their heads, Skrillex-kun adding, "Huh, I've never seen a game like this before."

They were in a small island where little pygmies were fishing, warming their hands by a fire, and generally being rather adorable. One of them looked over, and Choko smiled, "Ohaiyo gozaimasu, new friends! Welcome to Litwak's Arcade!"

The pygmy gasped, eyes filled with horror. "You-You gotta get out of here! Before Madam Misha comes—"

Suddenly an earthquake rocked the island, causing them all to balance awkwardly on one leg. Choko saw the light from the tunnel disappear behind them, and the sky turned into a large screen where Miyoko-ojou's mighty finger began to kill the pygmies in variously hilarious ways. Choko trembled as her friends dragged her behind the outhouse, and she watched the world behind the screen shift from behind down on the floor to up in the air, Sugar Rush becoming smaller and smaller as Miyoko-ojou left the arcade.

"Mina-san...I don't think we're going to make opening hours today."

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey was not freaking out, thank you very much. Not even when Misha caused a tsunami that swept them all under the ocean and summoned a laser shark. And not even when after eating and murdering all the pygmies, she spawned them all on a new island where she flicked the newly regenerated pygmies into a volcano. Nope, Honey was calm and cool and not on fire because that would be very bad.

Choko, on the other hand, was hiding her face in Honey's back and she could see Skrillex's hands shaking. He was staring past the destruction out the screen, where Misha and her friends were riding in an old van and yelling over each other about the strangest things. How Toby needed to just ask some programming guru girl named Katarzyna out before they did for him, how Frozen better not be an official adaptation of The Snow Queen or DeeDee was going to flip a world's supply of tables, how Misha needed to get off her phone once they got to the airport because she was a total iJunkie...

The finger disappeared and the screen shut with an audible click. The pygmies were now freed from being in character, and they swarmed around Honey and her friends. "Dear Bolt in the sky, are you three ok?"

"Define ok." Choko slowly unclenched her fists in Honey's jumpsuit, and Honey stroked her pink hair. "We're all a little shaken up, and wondering where in Chaos we are."

One of the pygmies stepped forward. "Well...you're in Pocket God. It's a mobile game on Madam Misha's iTouch, she plugged us into your arcade's power strip and you must've..."

They all froze as the screen turned back on and their environment got dark as Misha filled with something just beyond their vantage point before brightening again. The pygmy nodded, "She's gone to a new app, probably Notepad to look up their travel plans." His eyes widened. "Oh Pocket God, their travel plans!"

Skrillex finally broke into the conversation, "What plans? We need to get back to the arcade as soon as possible!"

"We...Madam Misha and her friends aren't coming back to the arcade for a long time."

Honey forced herself to keep calm as Skrillex yelled and Choko gasped. They could...oh crap oh Chaos they were so screwed it wasn't even funny. Honey slapped herself to beat away the growing hysteria, then smiled sweetly at the pygmy. "Where exactly are we going, Mr..."

"Ooga, Ms. And I don't really quite know where we're going—Madam Misha writes everything in Japanese and I can't read her notes—but I do know we're going on a plane." Ooga, paused, then grabbed on to Honey's thumb. "Come on, we gotta get you to a safer part of the app; Madam Misha might come back and you can't afford to die outside your console."

They were led past the confines of the map to a sturdy hut in the middle of a plain, lacking obvious hazards like water, thunder clouds or ominous octopus idol statues. In the hut were various tables and soda machines bolted to the floors and walls, and a lack of anything pointy to impale themselves on. Honey smirked a little as she guided Choko to a seat; the ceiling looked like it was made of pillows, in case gravity stopped working. "You guys thought of everything."

"Thank you, but obviously not enough." Ooga began to pace, his face squished with pensive thought. "Madam Misha and her friends are drifters, and Master Toby joked to his uncle that they'll be around to the arcade once he got married. Which is funny because the idiot can't muscle up and ask out his soul mate, but it's also bad because in all seriousness...I don't know when we'll be back."

"Is there any way to send us back?" Choko's voice was little with clamped down fear, but she met their gazes evenly. "There's the Internet, no?"

"Not here; this is an iTouch, so we need a steady wifi connection before we can send you through the boom tubes." Boom tubes? "Our safest bet is to just wait it out until Madam Misha plugs us in somewhere to charge."

"Sounds like a plan, I guess." Skrillex smiled softly, placing a comforting hand on Choko's shoulder. "So what do floating programs do for fun in Miyoko Tobigawa-Martinez's mobile device?"

Ooga grinned. "All the eavesdropping you could ever wish for."

* * *

Honey laughed into Skrillex's shoulder as DeeDee explained exactly why Princess Daisy was a "scum sucking strumpet-Susie" who deserved to die in a ball of fire. The hut was crowded with pygmies and peoples from other apps listening to the "Fabalicious Four" rip into video game icons. Honestly, Honey never knew about the CD-I Zelda games, and she bet that her Ocarina friends back home didn't want to know.

"Ok, new question: Astro Boy, Rockman and Mighty No. 9 in a balls-to-the-walls beat down. Who wins?"

"Well we can throw Astro right out of the mix. I love the Mighty Atom and all, y'all know this already—"

"How could we forget Adia, since you spent that entire anime expo just drilling into that poor cosplayer for his crappy costume?"

"—but both Mega and Beck can copy attacks, and they just seem way more powerful in action. Like, Astro will end up getting his ass fed to him on a platter while the other two exchange violent brofists in the background."

"So Astro is out. Then I wanna say Megaman, if only because I adore the little blue bomber, but Beck's shaping up really nicely. Dee, what's your take?"

"Well, Mr. Inafune's official position is that Beck will beat the crap out of Mega Man, but Mega has Protoman—Blues for you, Misha—waiting in the wings to leverage anyone who beats on his little brother into the nearest volcano."

"Ah, good point. But maybe Call can be Beck's Blues, since she's his partner instead of his homebody sister like Roll."

"Speaking of which—Toby, my buddy, are you finished with the patch you're making for Uncle Stan's arcade? I wanna play Roll in the Power Battle, not just see her ambiguously aged sprite in the endings. Jeez, it's like the Ruby-Sears cartoon with them, they look so old..."

"I'll finish it once you post a new chapter, Dei-dre."

"Ouch, that's cold, To-bi-as."

Honey looked over to see Choko fiercely defending Megaman's honor to Ooga's friends Klik and Dooby, and drowned in lemon-lime soda. Skrillex was being used as a ramp by the baby birds from Tiny Wings, Misha was leading her friends in singing the theme to Pokémon, and Honey relaxed just a little bit more. It was just a little bit like home.

But then car doors opened and Honey could hear them start saying goodbye to Mr. Litwak over the traffic at the airport. The conversation was muffled as Misha was palming the stereo receiver, but the hut was shaking ever so slightly and a thrill of danger went up her spine. Skrillex met her wide eyed gaze, and another pygmy came running in, screaming at the top of his lungs, "SHE'S GONNA TURN OFF THE ITOUCH!"

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

The hub of the iTouch was stark white and sparkling clean, just as he imagined the insides of his Mac would be. But he could hardly appreciate it, because his untimely death was looming over him like a final stretch of chords.

Misha was turning off her iTouch once they got on the plane to who knew where, and they only had so much time before they could get through security. Honey and Choko were looking at him with terrible expressions, and he realized that out of the mass of programs scurrying through the hub, they were the ones who understood what kind of Void was waiting for them.

No more Codebusting, no more friends, no more making music...no more anything because they were stupid and followed a rabbit hole to the bottom of a well and found out that they couldn't swim. Skrillex clenched his Action Replay tight enough to cut into his hands and bleed on the pristine white floor; he'd gladly tear himself to pieces if it meant that Honey and Choko got to go home safely.

He turned towards Ooga. "So there's no wifi and no chance of stopping to plug the iTouch in anywhere?"

"None at all; this is an airport, Madam Misha distrusts them after a crazy fan stalked her father to one, so she won't be stopping until the plane." Ooga bowed his head. "I...I can't think of anything. I'm so sorry."

No. No no no no no this couldn't happen because Honey had a date with C. Sonic coming up and Choko was holding a sleepover soon and he couldn't watch his friends die like this.

He grabbed on to his hair, breathing heavily as the air seemed to disappear. He needed to get a foking grip, he couldn't lose it, he needed to figure out how to save them. He was a Codebuster, he was Sonny freaking Moore and he knew more about computers than he'd ever like to know so he knew how they were going to die. The electricity would go out, depixelating the playing field until the deresolution caught up to them. They would come apart in a swirl and race towards the end of the tunnel towards the light, hit the end—

And die.

Skrillex let himself be led to a nice corner in the hub by Honey, but he couldn't make his mouth form a thank you. Choko was sitting with her knees to her chest, Honey was smiling this really sad smile like recess was over and it was time to go back inside, and Skrillex couldn't bear to look at them.

Skrillex pulled out his Action Replay, his reflection distorted in the glossy, glowing surface. Tracing a bloodied finger across its surface, he felt code sparkle beneath his tongue, begging to be used and bend the world to his whim. But this wasn't a game, he couldn't cheat death...his blood sparked a new connection and he gasped.

Like the trance after an intense buildup, his mind was filled with stars. Each one contained knowledge beyond that which a normal arcade game program should ever know, but he was hardly normal. After all, normal programs didn't know that iTouches, iObjects in general, were just fancy portable hard drives. Normal programs didn't know that being in one's game didn't make you safe, but your connection to your code—and it's backed up saved data—did.

Normal programs didn't have an Action Replay, and normal programs didn't have their loved ones counting on them to use it. "OOGA!"

"Wha-What?!"

Skrillex's eyes began to glow bright blue as he fell deeper into the secret stars of his Action Replay. "Take me to the Notepad!" Honey and Choko were in his face, but he couldn't hear them, not when he was so synced to the ethereal noise of electricity. "Everyone follow him, I know what to do!"

Skrillex was hardly present, in the hub or otherwise. Desperate connections and theories were being built up and torn down as he abused every loophole he could compute. Only Honey and Choko's hands on his arms kept him from exploding, his mind was reeling with data he just barely had a grip on. "We're here, Mr. Sonny."

"Everyone." Skrillex was beyond data-mode, he was in the Action Replay, and it was a thrilling sort of terrible beauty. "Bring out your cartridges." He felt them do so, two warm lights matching the center of the new cosmos in his soul. "Prick your fingers against the surface." The warm lights flared into brilliance. "And repeat after me..."

He didn't consciously know what tumbled from his lips, but it made sense in his grand scheme. Honey and Choko followed after him with no mistakes, faster and faster as their minds slipped into their Action Replays and bled blue. Soon he could feel them in his mind, connected in ways he'd explore later, and he whispered in the glorious electric static that  _they were going to back up their code to the iTouch._

But  _that was insane_ , Honey countered, they were  _still programmed to their respective home consoles. To cut themselves away would probably corrupt their entire data._

Skrillex knew that, but  _they didn't have a choice_. Three Notepad notes were at their disposal, ready to them to pour their entire beings into static text, and Skrillex reminded them that  _it was now or never_.

Choko trusted him completely, and added that  _either they died here or died in a minute_. _There was no way to lose this messed up game, no reason not to try._

Honey  _agreed_ , and in unison they backed themselves up to the notes.

It was disturbing to see their code translated into text, their souls printed on electronic paper. Skrillex sank to his knees and searched for relief; it was like bleeding to death, destruction in inches. Gritting his teeth, he pasted everything—abilities, preferences, memories—that made Skrillex Sonny Moore into the backup. And when their ties to their home consoles were cut as the backup process completed, Skrillex burst into tears.

They were alive, they weren't corrupted and Ooga saved the notes to the hard drive of the iTouch. They were just...alone, unsure if the shut down wouldn't just tear them apart where they stood, and Skrillex ignored the throbbing agony in his hands as gripped on to his Action Replay for dear life. The glow in their eyes faded with the tears spilling down to splatter like spilled code on the floor, and Skrillex felt so incredibly lost; Honey gently loosened his tortured grip and enclosed his hands in hers and Choko's. "It's done guys; there's no going back. A-All that's left is to wait out the end."

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

They were sitting in their corner, listening to Miyoko-ojou laugh with her friends. Ooga-kun had bid them farewell—he could survive outside his app when the iTouch shut down, but he gave them their space. Choko would miss him, one way or another.

And that was her motto for the day: missing people she'd just seen hours before. She was so certain of her decision to back her data up before, but now she was coming to terms with her actions, and they burned in her throat. Her game would think that she'd been deleted again—would it regenerate a new Choko Pockystix for the battles and races, would it make a new her to fill the void she left behind? Or would her absence break Sugar Rush after they spent so much pain trying to fix it again, all because she was stupid enough to enter a foreign game plug?

Choko trembled and Honey-chan wrapped an arm around her shoulder as Skrillex-kun shielded them from the too bright lights. Choko didn't want to die again, not after she made so many loved ones. She could see their faces just beyond reach, too far away for her to say goodbye.

The Prince-hiko and Megaman-sama. Xiao-chan and Alisa-chan. Namine-chan, Saria-chan and the rest of her Thrusday night sleepover girls. Roll-chan and Mee Mee-chan. Pollipop-chan, Lemonetta-chan, Bubblebetty-chan, Marzipanne-chan, Minty-chan and Sour-Apple-chan.

Vanellope-heika. Sora-kun, Leia-hime, and Bob-kun.

Honey-chan and Skrillex-kun

_Neesan and Niisan._

Choko smiled when Honey-neesan and Skrillex-niisan brought her into a hug. They were so warm, and they were here for her to hold, and she'd never give them up for anything. They were more than just friends...they were her family, her siblings in a strange and fantastic world.

They were her fellow Codebusters, and this might be their final mission together.

"Did you know that you have two voice actresses, Choko?"

Choko looked up to see Skrillex-niisan smiling, glasses fogged up from earlier. "What?"

"Well, it might not be obvious to you, but it's an interesting story to me." They slid down to sit in their corner, Skrillex-niisan pulling out his laptop and setting it to the side. "You see, your speaking voice is from Azumi Inoue, which is why it's so light and clear. But your singing voice—remember when you told me that you sing your boss theme?—is by Salia.

"It's interesting, because I actually have one of Salia's songs, and it fits you." He and Honey-neesan shared a look, and Choko didn't understand until he turned on the speakers and music lilted through their corner. Then she blushed heavily as Skrillex-niisan laughed, "Shouldn't this be your theme song?"

"You're not as funny as you think, niichan!" Choko flipped his hair back, prompting him to shove her into Honey-neesan, and they started fighting as they always did, laughing away the depression that came on flaming wings.

Then Choko heard Miyoko-ojou call out, "Ok, ok, I'll turn it off now; is tickling me really necessary, Toby?!"

They calmed down and sat in their corner of safety, and Choko smiled; listening to the music was like listening to herself in the shower. Grasping on to her loved ones' hands, she sang out against the darkness creeping at the edges of the hub, "Kowareta toki o koete...ikiru shinjitsu ga aru nara..."  _Overcome broken time...if there is truth in living..._

The lights began to dim down to gray, and it was getting harder to breath, but Choko sang louder, "Todokanu omoi himete, hiza o kakaeta mama ja lonely girl."  _Hide your unreaching thoughts, keep hugging your knees, you'll be a lonely girl._

Honey-neesan's hands squeezed harder against her hands as Skrillex-niisan's arms held them together. "Kitto bokura mo tadoritsukeru sa, harukana utopia..."  _We will surely reach it too, that distant utopia..._

Choko could hardly see anymore, the darkness was so powerful, and her hair began to swirl as air rushed towards a growing circle of light across the hub. "Tatoeba kimi no sono ude ga kusari ni tsunagaretemo..." _Even if those arms of yours were be bound in chains..._

Faces flashed briefly before her eyes as silky bands of wind tried to drag her into the tunnel, but Choko held fast. "Tatoeba itsuka kono sora ga moetsukite shimau doushitemo, kibou dake wa shinjite!"  _Even if someday this sky were to burn up completely, you must believe in hope!_

Choko could taste herself depixelating under her tongue, her fingertips derezzing into the whipping wind with the rest of her legs. She belted out the lyrics to herself, to her family, to anyone who cared to listen, "Tatoeba kimi ga kanashimi ni kuzuresou ni nattemo! Tatoeba boku no kono mune ga dakitomeru chikara ni nareba..."  _Even if you are about to be crushed from the sadness!_

_If this chest of mine can become the strength to catch you..._

They were flying, flying faster than she could ever remember racing in her own cart. Neesan niisan neesan niisan they were still holding on to her, her original Codebusters., and Choko finished the song, "Asu mo kitto we can survive!" _Tomorrow surely we can survive!_

Choko wanted to say something else before the iTouch shut down completely, anything at all, but she simply closed her eyes and was happy, because—

* * *

Miyoko's iTouch shut down and she slid it into her purse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -ojou: means young lady. Often used for daughters of wealthy, high class families, Choko is giving Miyoko much respect here as she is the daughter of the Tobikomi president and inadvertently began to Sugar Rush series; Matsuo Tobigawa wanted a game that appealed to both gamers and young children like his daughter, so he and co-founder Shinjiro Komida created one of their biggest sellers.
> 
> Neesan/neechan and niisan/niichan: terms for older sister and older brother. As Choko came to see Honey and Skrillex like family, her internal honorific system upgraded them to these. In speech she can refer to them as neechan and niichan instead of Honey-neesan and Skrillex-niisan.
> 
> So...yeah. I just killed the Codebusters.
> 
> OH YEAH I JUST WENT THERE I FREAKING LOVE THIS CHAPTER UGH I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW BECAUSE CHAPTER 20
> 
> The thing about Choko's voice actresses and her "theme" (it's Trust by Salia, go listen to it) comes from me finding the similarities between the song's lyrics and Choko's state of mind too perfect to leave out. Her regular voice actress sings the theme from My Neighbor Totoro, and just listen to the beginning song, it's the closest thing I have to a real version of her voice.
> 
> But that's not really important because I JUST KILLED THE CODEBUSTERS. And for all the work they did backing themselves up, they could seriously just not regenerate. For all their power as Codebusters...can they really cheat death?
> 
> That's the question now, isn't it? Because in the words of M. Sonic: if you die outside your game, you don't regenerate, ever. Game over.
> 
> So maybe this is the end...or maybe this is something else entirely...


	21. Galaga

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the other Codebusters go to Galaga and the staged of grief are shared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG I NEVER POSTED THIS CHAPTER. LATE POST IS LATE.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Square Enix (Sora), Atari (Leia), Mojang (Bob) or Namco-Bandai (Galaga)

**Bob's POV**

* * *

Life continued in a sort in the aftermath of the original Red Core of Codebusters's deaths.

Bob didn't notice they were gone until the mystery plug had already been pulled. The sudden static blasting in his mind from his Action Replay got his attention; Sora hit the ground, Leia screamed, and they were painfully aware that the latent connection to the other three cheat cartridges had been cut off. The Surge Protector put a lock down on everything to keep other programs from being absconded, but the damage had been done.

Witnesses from around the arcade saw Miyoko remove the mystery game—one of those mobile devices that games were often ported onto—and leave with Toby Litwak. Emi identified it as an iTouch, dashing hope for a 3G Internet escape, and while some held out hope that they would miraculously return, Bob and the technologically knowledgeable knew better. In the computer room he'd seen enough iPhones and Androids to know how kids use them. Turn them off to "study", reset them to fix a glitch app, run out the battery...and then Aimee from the local Farmville saw Toby Litwak update his Facebook status to "Finally got Misha to turn off her iTouch after tickling her lol".

Sora cried the first hour after they were confirmed dead. Him and C. Sonic and the rest of Sugar Rush, and Bob would bet a diamond sword that the rest of the arcade was in total shock. There one minute, gone the next—the kind of madness that tried turning Bob into one of those sentimental fools, creeping through the power strips and watching games flicker with use as the human gamers went on with their lives.

That was the best part about being him, anyway; thanks to his limited role in the game he could wander the arcade, simply wondering. Did Skrillex keep the group together, finally assuming leadership as a Codebuster? Did Honey hold onto them until the end, knowing about the loved ones she was leaving behind? Did Choko, Princess of Heart for a good reason, cry?

He hoped she didn't, that Miyoko turned off her phone before they knew that they were dead in the pixels without a save file. Time passed with the terrifying wailing in darker corners of games and while his opinion on other things changed—they were Codebusters darn it all, they would've done anything they could to cheat death, they never would've shown fear—that remained constant.

And Bob's life had a constant in the glowing little cartridge suspended in his inventory. The blue...the only core of Codebusters were keeping the arcade running by themselves. Glitching games didn't care if Bob was reeling over losing three people that really understood the responsibilities in his code; griefing errors and bugs were apathetic to anything past giving the Codebusters a purpose. Putting their Action Replays to great use, upholding their vows to always help someone in need...

Funny thing, that vow. It certainly helped the arcade, it certainly gave him a new purpose that was irreplaceable as his intended function, but there wasn't a Herobrine-damned thing he could do to to help the three friends that lead him to being a Codebuster, or the people they left behind.

* * *

He was in the habit of people watching now. Their reactions up to the top followed the same pattern; acquaintances of the lost three were shocked and quick to diffuse that shock through their real friendships and directive. Tapper was in the business of making a certain multi-grain root beer for cheap now, and Bob watched his mates in Minecraft treat the pigs with much more respect than before.

Further up Bob saw Calhoun staring distantly towards the DJ Hero 2, talking to Felix about how she never got to know "Mozart" well enough to properly thank him and the others for her wedding. Nicelanders pitying the death of children—because that's what they were, Skrillex no older than a twentysomething—and little Kokiri from Ocarina of Time missing the older kids who showed them that being old doesn't mean losing their spirit.

Then Bob watched people they'd helped and made friends with flirting near the edge of despair. Bob heard the punks from Guitar Hero making ballads, the cast of Tekken Tag 2 fighting poorly even during game play, and the devastated mess around The Power Battle. He didn't know how many friends Choko had at her sleepovers until the night after their deaths were made official rolled around; that game was overrun with crying little girls from Angel Kids to Mario Party 8, Mee Mee and Roll at the center and inconsolable to their depressed older brother figures. Roll in particular had to be shut down from all the stress her crying did; Bob had forgotten that she was even a robot.

Sugar Rush was special in that Choko wasn't just a friend to them, she helped their queen reset their game. So to find that her code had simply disappeared from their game, leaving behind a lifeless track and skipped over boss battle, had been too much to bear for the already emotionally sensitive racers. Bob saw them exactly twice; to see them wailing after inspecting Sugar Rush's code, and to see the former recolors and mis-textured racers slouched over in Tappers. Not a word was said, not a tear was spent, so the raw heartbreak in their tiny faces was all the more painful for Bob to see.

So at the very peak of what Bob coined Grief Mountain were the best friends, the companions that made life in arcade worth it. Queen Vanellope was still the Codebuster's commander, giving them jobs from clients and mitigating emergencies, and she was doing a fantastic job of keeping a steady face. But Bob was a master of expression for all his limited programming, and he saw the slight redness rimming her eyes, the way she always wore gloves now to hide knuckles covered with bite marks when the urge to cry got too much. Choko once said that she was Vanellope's dear friend, a "great honor to be so close to Vanellope-heika", and Bob was just glad that the kid's affections were mutual.

If Queen Vanellope was holding it in, then Skrillex's fellow DJs had no qualms about letting it out. The girls and some of the guys wailed and their collective opinions shifted from "Never ever play anything made by him again" to "It's the Skrillex Memorial Hour", and Bob noticed how they all wore something black. Black pants, black shirts, black wristbands, black dyed hair...Suri was working a defiant undercut, and Bob saw three red lines added to deadmau5's signature mouse heads. And if Bob wasn't mistaken, there was that telltale pale-face-pink-eyes in their faces, if only for the first day. Skrillex probably would've laughed at their actions, but Bob always knew that they cared.

At least they weren't in crisis mode. It was an open secret how...unstable C. Sonic could be at his lowest, even before Honey was frozen 11 years ago. Bob heard the horror stories whispered from veterans, how years ago he would have to be watched by his roster mates in case he made a dash for a shoot 'em up and joined his lost friends in the After Void; now the poor child lost his best friend and soul mate, and the whispers were starting up again about how C. Sonic suffered another mental breakdown. Bob could see the blank-eyed, pale-faced hedgehog staring down ports to Hero's Duty and Primal Rage, and a new kind of fear was stirring in Bob's chest like rustles of dead leaves.

He kept an extra eye out on the kid—it was the least he could do in Honey's memory—and to his relief M. Sonic was permanently locked in big brother mode. He and the two Tails were like an honor guard around C. Sonic, herding him away from suicidal impulses, and his roster mates were super protective; Bob bet they couldn't handle losing another one of their group. So even if the kid was completely broken, functioning only because his remaining friends begged him not to get himself killed and bring down Sonic the Fighters with him, at least there wasn't any more death to stain the arcade's memory.

And they all cried, they all screamed outrage, and Bob was with them because it hurt and they were so young and they were just  _gone_  and it wasn't fair how after so much accomplished, his friends died out of the blue and what was he supposed to do now other than self-destruct over and over?

But as it always does, life continued.

Ralph was keeping Vanellope strong, stopping her from lashing out and becoming a candy-coated despot. The Chokos from the Sugar Rush sequels were tagging into the arcade game to fill in the missing slot in Sugar Rush and keep the gamers happy. The grieving children of the arcade were taken under wings by older siblings, parents, mysterious mentors, and Roll cracked a tiny smile at Mr. and Mrs. Pacman arguing about dish duty in GCS.

Bob watched his team slowly adjust from being code masters to being the only code masters. Sora, fiercely optimistic even in his grief, got a hold of his tear ducts, and Leia the Stoic never cried to begin with; they would get over it but not right now, not when they were forced to be all smiles and IC for Mr. Litwak's happy clientele, and that was ok.

Yet Bob sat at his computer's terminal, squashing irrational hope that the dead would come walking in and tell a tale about how they cheated death and went on a grand adventure through the Internet back home. Skrillex knew their IP address, Honey had the moxie to take on any malware, and Choko would just be thrilled at having a new story to tell...

Well, he could always dream, anyway. Stupid little petty hopeless dreams, but Bob was a Codebuster tired of looking at the harsh truth; he could indulge in cheating reality for just a little while.

* * *

**Leia's POV**

* * *

"We've got reports of enemy AI glitches in Majora's Mask, texture errors in The Sims 3 and freezing in Galaga." Leia and the rest of the Codebusters were standing before Queen Vanellope, and she held her head high in the overly pink throne room. "Take your pick, none of them are serious as of yet."

Leia looked to her sides; Sora looked ready for anything to keep him upbeat and Bob was blank faced. She was their leader after all, the head Codebuster now, and she knew she needed to take charge. "Might as well start with Galaga, since we're already in the arcade game room. Is that all, Queen Vanellope?"

"Well if you see Princess Peach on the way, send her over; she and Princess Toadstool are being catty, so as Queen I feel obligated to keep the peace." Leia and Vanellope shared a smirk; it was interesting to be part of the arcade's royal circle, to say the least. Then Vanellope's smirk faded down and Leia's gut spasmed because it had only been three days. "So yeah...go get them, Codebusters, I'm gettin' old here."

They saluted and Leia led them out of the sugar dusted castle, steadfast in the face of the new pocky zen garden that made Sora trip up. She felt bad for him; Kairi told her how things got bad the first night, lots of smashing and lighting storms and agony that Leia hoped was starting to phase itself out. There wasn't time for them to fall apart, not when they had so much to do and so much to live up to.

It didn't help that Luke and Darth Vader were on her case, how she needed to have a breakdown like poor C. Sonic in order to heal. No offense to those still crying—she understood what they were going through, why didn't anyone see that she missed her friends so much—but she had a job to do, and Galaga wasn't going to fix itself.

Leia saw various little racers on their way out, half of them trying to smile and the half failing miserably. It was almost funny in its depression; since when did these impossible kids, after a madman, his virus and a total game crash/reboot , ever stay down long enough for others to notice? Bubblebetty was pathetic in her attempt to smile and wave, positively chunky in her blueberry pie binge, and Leia couldn't keep her gaze; Choko would've known what to say.

Clenching her fists, Leia marched out of Sugar Rush and hid a grin when Bob had to clamor into her cart. Something about not having arms was very inconvenient with driving, and Sora joked as they sped down the cord, "How do you expect to go dancing with all those pretty girls you picked up from Vocaloid if you can't swing them around?"

"Unlike the resident Disney prince in the room, I do not waltz like an old grandpa. I'm hip, I'm fresh, I'm explosive, and I do the box step." Leia smiled to herself as Sora guffawed, he and Bob getting into a loud argument on whether or not it was fair that Bob got all the ladies while still being a creeper. It was nice hearing them play-fight, they hadn't really done that ever since...

Well, Ever Since.

Galaga was on the far end of the power strip, twinned up with a double headed extension cord with Joust. Leia remembered Joust fondly; it was one of their first real missions, reprogramming hit detection that rendered the game's platforms useless. Bob nearly died when the glitching error tried sucking him into the ground, it took much abuse of Sora's Majestic Thunder to save him. All in all it was one of the best days in Leia's life, which said something about the world she lived in.

GCS was markedly less crowded than usual for a Wednesday night. There was no new drama other than Judy Nails and Johnny Whathisface breaking up again, but Leia caught the the stolen whispers and frightened looks bystanders would give that one empty port by Frogger. As if some mysterious force would suck them to their doom...Leia fought down the manic urge to giggle. Honestly, Luke's paranoia about her state of mind was making its own problems.

Sora waved hello to his "younger sis" Namine and her friends Tetra and Roll, the three blondes skipping off to Burger Time. It was good to see Roll functioning again, after her meltdown the night before, and Leia sighed softly. Next on the list was getting her and half the arcade to smile again. Hopefully Sora the sunshine brat was up to the task.

Speaking of overly peppy Disney brats, Sora ran into Luke's new girlfriend Pixie from DJ Hero 2, and Leia exchanged a smirk with Bob. She knew enough about the rave crazy girl that anything that started with D and ended with Isney started a massive wave of fangirly sparkles; it meshed well with Luke's secret obsession with Pixar, who from what Leia saw in Up and Toy Story, was funded purely on tears. It was a little odd, getting so caught up to modern era pop culture, and Honey...well, Leia was working on getting caught up. So far her thoughts kept jumping from place to place, trying to find purchase on anything permanent, so she wasn't doing very well.

The train ride up the extension cord and the transfer to Galaga was filled with review. Their combat training with the Mortal Kombat fighters saved their butts when another heartless swarm spilled into GTA Vice City, Sora and King Mickey were making good headway into researching the Majestic Thunders' true capabilities, and while they still had a long way to go, people were building up trust in the Codebusters.

Leia looked down at the blue C on her breast and was aware of the larger one on her back. Blue was in now, blue like her brother's eyes, like her Action Replay, like that stupid song stuck in her head after fixing a lag issue in Stepmania and she imagined drowning in blue and forced herself the breathe normally. Sora laid his head down in her lap and she saw more blue in the dim light of the cord. "Can I help you?"

"Just wanted to say hello." Sora smiled so easily even during these days, Leia secretly adored him for that. "You seem a little more irritated than usual; was Han bothering you again?"

"Ugh!" Leia scowled at the mental image of that reckless, overblown, stubborn idiot who dared to try and call her an ice princess! "That scruffy-looking nerfherder needs to keep his noise out of my business, and out of my way!" Bob was insufferably smirking and Sora was giving her a Look and Leia bit her bottom lip so she wouldn't either burst into hysteria or start screaming at them all.

"It's prolly because he likes you..." Bob's snide comment set Sora off and Leia was suddenly forced to defend her honor and standards. Like Han Solo, the kriffin' jerk who told her that her personality must still be dummied out? Who got sweet, innocent Luke incoherently drunk right before opening hours and brought the wrath of Darth Vader on everyone in the Alliance? Who was tall and irritatingly charming and Leia swore that at his best he could be somewhat of a trustworthyish friend to her brother and maybe... "You adore, him, don't you?"

Leia Force-knocked Bob onto his back and watching him flail about like an upended turtle. Sora was laughing, Galaga was ahead, and Leia let herself giggle because this was as normal as it got anymore.

* * *

The fighters in Galaga greeted them with the usual enthusiasm that a Codebuster got, yet Leia clenched her fists in her jumpsuit's pocket. She saw their eyes rake over their blue coded uniforms, and knew that they found them lacking. Holding her head high, she marched into the frozen game like she owned it, and refused to look at the glances Bob and Sora were giving each other.

Just as Queen Vanellope said, the game was hopelessly frozen. Forcing herself to stay mobile in the locking game environment, Leia asked Sora, "Are your keybaldes picking up anything?"

His Majestic Thunder were vibrating in his hands, low electronic humming bleeding out into space. "It's funny...like they're overloading in response to this game's data."

Leia bit her bottom lip as Sora and Bob talked code. Everything was overloading lately, overfilling and spilling out to make things a complicated mess. But she forced down the irrational urge to scream, clenching onto her jumpsuit's belt. Peace, serenity, all those Jedi things that Darth Vader was trying to teach Skrillex and—

"Aha!" Sora grinned widely with eyes glowing in the stifling darkness. "It's like what we were told about old 8 bit games! The game went past level 255, so we just gotta trigger the watchdog!"

The princess tried to speak but there wasn't any air left in the suspended space. She remembered the story of Mrs. Pac Man well; one of the Codebuster's first games fixed, spreading their reputation far and wide, and the darkness the game produced led Honey to talk about the Void and

And oh god Honey was back in the Void, and she couldn't breathe because there was no air when you're a static block of pixels watching your best friend fall apart, just like how he was since Honey was in the Void but there was no Game Genie to fix her because she was dead and the girl who remade Honey along with her.

Leia was gasping but there was no air, why was there no air when it was just there five seconds ago? The only thing left to do was obviously giggle, and Leia felt her cheeks strain from the manic grin splashed across her face. Laughter whistled through her teeth like air being sucked out of an iTouch as the playing field derezzed, like vectors exploding into bits of decaying light over and over around her yet nobody noticed Leia was even there.

Sora was looking at her with big blue Luke eyes and they were like Action Replay eyes, blue cheat programs and blue code and blue everything because Choko had pink hair and Skrillex had brown eyes and Honey had yellow fur and Leia didn't want to be the Blue Codebuster anymore when red was taken out of the balance.

She fell to her knees and clawed at her shirt, laughing hard enough to rattle her ribs and shock her heart into overdrive. Didn't Sora see the stupidity of it all? There was just too much blue and too many people crying and too many looks sent her way wondering why Ice Princess Leia Organa Skywalker wasn't a sobbing wreck. But she was stronger than that, she was a leader and leaders don't cry even when the world as they knew it came to an end.

And no Sora, she was not ok but she was going to have to be if they wanted to keep going. Half the Codebusters got wiped out Monday morning and it was Wednesday night and they needed to get their kriffin' act together because that's what teams did in these situations. And she refused to cry, shed a single tear because she couldn't afford to be weak when even Queen Vanellope the Sugar Rush Savior needed her shoulder to cry on, and why was he looking at her?! He needed to stop staring at her like she was falling apart because she wasn't, she wasn't C. Sonic or Roll or anyone else in this stupid code-forsaken arcade and she. would. not. cry...

"It's ok, it's ok." Sora wiped her cheek and it was wet. "It's ok to cry, Bob and I won't say a word, and everything's going to be ok."

Leia's face screwed up in agony as days of suppressed emotion tore its way out her throat and eyes. And she screamed.

She screamed and wailed and sobbed into his chest, forcing blue to stain his shirt and make her hair plaster to her face. He held her the entire time, Bob joining once he fixed the game and neither said a word. Neither did the Galaga fighters as Sora carried her out like she was his little sister, and no one in GCS said a word even though she knew Felix was a gossip and M. Sonic a motormouth.

No one said anything, and it made her cry harder because she was a failure of a leader to depend on Sora to keep her from glitching apart.

"That's a lie." She blinked up at him, and they were in Star Wars on her bed, Luke stroking her back and Bob telling Darth Vader what happened and Han guarding the door from snooping stormtroopers. "You're the best leader we have." And he was crying too and it made her heart bleed to see more blue, blue from Sora and Bob and her family and even Han. "And it's ok to cry, because it means you have a heart, and that's what makes a good leader."

Leia cried even harder, and it wasn't until she passed out from the force of grieving over her lost friends that she realized how lucky she was to have the friends guarding over her vulnerable state.

* * *

**Sora's POV**

* * *

Sora watched the people filter by from his perch in the computer room, hands in his lap and his Majestic Thunder put away for now. There was no need for charging in guns blazing or whatever other weird sayings Bob made, not today.

After Leia's breakdown in Galaga, they were taking things a bit slower to try and ease her out of the mindset she forced herself into. He thought it was strange, how she thought being completely stoic in the face of their good friends dying made for good leadership; Sora liked the humanity of being vulnerable, since it showed one's inner heart. Luke and Han talked to her afterward, along with Vanellope, the various princesses and especially Bob and him. After making it clear that no, they didn't think anything less of her and yes, she was still their kick ass Jedi princess leader, Leia actually smiled.

She was beautiful when she smiled. Her and Namine and all the girls he'd had the pleasure of meeting, and Sora saw a little Sim girl grin below. Happiness, the pure-hearted not-evil kind that King Mickey vouched for, was the best sort of thing to be spread around the arcade, and Sora pondered why it was so easy for him to find it under the layers of sadness.

Kairi wasn't joking when she said he "had a bad night" when the news came out. There was a reason why he wasn't a Princess of Heart, and there was still darkness clinging to his gut whenever he passed Sugar Rush or heard certain melodies. Choko GP ran through the crowd chasing after her friends, and Sora idly wondered if he ever told his Choko that her nose scrunched up like a bunny whenever he tickled her.

Regrets, should've dones, too much lingering sadness. Game characters adapted quickly to new events—Ralph and Vanellope became best friends after one night, to say nothing of how quickly Sora mastered his Majestic Thunder—yet death was too sudden. Like having someone's heart ripped out in front of you, and they don't regenerate, just leaving you behind...

Sora smiled. Someone was playing Castle in the Sky in the DVD terminal, and he could hear trumpets sounding. Skrillex and Choko adored Miyazaki, and Honey was quick to love his movies too. Maybe Sora was influenced by Disney, but he was in the love camp as well. He wished there was a game based off this movie in particular, so he could just explore Laputa, way above the clouds.

He jumped down from his perch lightly, and smirked when Bob came dragging in Leia. Drag was perhaps too strong a word; she'd never seen anything beyond her own movies, and there was a lightness to her steps now. "Funny finding you two here."

"Let's call it a happy coincidence, since hardly anything else in our lives are so lucky." They exchanged grins, and Sora looked over Leia's face. She wasn't wearing makeup today, so he saw the bags under her eyes she had yet to reset. But the cool ceramic features that'd been her mask all week were gone as well, and she smiled hopefully, "So Bob tells me this movie is nice? I have free time tonight..."

"Then onward!" Sora grabbed onto her delicate arm, marching Leia into the terminal. They quickly found good seats, since people gave them out of respect. It was pretty neat, the kindness that came with their work; Sora bet that they'd get the center six seats if they asked, but their view point was well enough.

Once the theater was filled someone started the DVD, and Sora cried a little during the movie. It was just that awesome ok, these weren't tears of sadness but tears of awestruck wonder-joy! Leia still smirked and Bob was beside his blocky self in making oogaly faces at Sora though. Meanies. But then Laputa came out of the clouds, and Sora bet his Kingdom Key that Leia was moved to emotion as well.

Leia would make a good Sheeta, and Sora bet there was a certain nerf-herder who would gladly volunteer to be Pazu. Leia made the most hilarious face of outrage and slammed her fist into Sora's gut to stop him from laughing; while it hurt like a heartless' mother, it was totally worth the comparison. Then again, maybe Han was too rough to be the male lead; Sora knew of another pair or two that could fit, and it filled him with happiness as much as it did sorrow.

By the time the movie was over they were due back at their games, but Sora didn't mind. It was a good change of pace, to stop being Codebusters for a second and just breathe in simple happiness. Leia was whistling the main theme, Bob was gonna ask his friends to build floating castles, and Sora hung back to watch them smile.

Yeah, they were hurting, and he didn't think that they were going to adapt to that pain just yet. But happiness went on just as life did, and the coming arcade hours were a new day.

* * *

Sora was back on his perch, and he couldn't keep a grin off his face.

Today had been a wonderful Saturday, filled with a bunch of kids in the home console room. He got to play in both KH1 and KH2, there were rumors that the arcade was getting a PS4 and KH3 once it was available and Toby Litwak came back, he and Riku got to hang out...life was good.

His grin softened as he pondered this. "Life was good", even though what happened on Monday? He looked down to see a group of giggling girls being led by Carmen Sandiego; Roll caught his eye and smiled at him, before being pulled along by Mee Mee. Sora's grin returned full force, and he struggled to keep from crying from the sheer relief of it all.

He knew he was a crybaby; Riku and Leia and basically everyone except for the nicer kids and King Mickey told him so. And he did a lot of crying this past week, trying to bleed out the sadness through his eyes. Sometimes he caught himself bursting into tears over little triggers, like the scent of chocolate or red hair ties or black converse shies. Hero's Duty was painful to even think about.

But even when all he wanted to do was scream until his head exploded, something nice happened. A gamer used him expertly during arcade hours, Deadpool came to pull Sora into a merry adventure, background music filtered out of Ocarina of Time just so...the world was beautiful and he adored it even beyond his sorrow.

Sora wasn't sure if that was just built into his programming or the Princesses of Heart were rubbing off on him or what, but when Leia was building herself up to crash and Bob was stuck staring into the faces of grief, Sora cried. He cried and hurt and at the end he looked up and was awestruck at how life continued to amaze.

It was cheesy, just like being a big softie, but it was true. His Majestic Thunder was a weaponized Action Replay for Disney's sakes, that was way beyond is level of understanding! People fell in love and discovered new content, games were being released on newer and better consoles, and gamers came to this little arcade every day without fail to give Sora a reason to exist.

He couldn't make sense of it all, beyond repeating to himself "I'm not that broken anymore" when he was alone. Too many weird feelings of hope, sadness, joy, rage, wonder and pain, all mushed together in the love he had for everything. Maybe King Mickey could help sort out his thoughts, since his standard course of action towards the...the optimism? in his heart was just to cry, and he was moving past that.

Wiping his eyes—darn moisture, making him all weepy—Sora watched people enter and leave terminals. He recognized many, but some were new, from Facebook games and Minecraft and places he's never heard of before. He wanted to see what was beyond the console, touch different game corners and live to tell the tale.

He knew that his friends would've been amazed at the strange reality of the iTouch. He knew that they would've gone into at least one game and tried their hardest not to die and seen the end that Sora could only guess about. Energy thrummed throughout Sora's code, his Majestic Thunder making his eyes glow just a bit, and he smiled. No more grief for them, because it was over.

They were either finally at rest, or somewhere entirely new. And Sora was willing to live up to the legacy they began, and see more of this beautiful world before he was gone and others went through grief cycles over his depixelated data.

He still hoped that they were alive, he still held onto the idea with wide eyed quiet, but Sora exhaled, letting three grateful tears flow; either way the Codebusters would to continue what three little codemasters began.

Children squealed with delight from below, and Sora looked over to watch them with a growing smile as midnight tolled and began a new tomorrow.

* * *

Five days earlier, Miyoko yawned as the plane touched down. While DeeDee teased Toby about Katarzyna and Adia finished her whimsy sketch of E-Call, she pulled out her iTouch and turned it on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is where this series splits upon it self.
> 
> On the left hand path the Codebusters live on through the Blue core. Reality brings them low but they stand tall, and become better people as the future looks on just as it ever does.
> 
> But on the right hand path...reality softens just this once, allowing three little programs to advance beyond the void of death.
> 
> Personally, I love the idea of the left. It's like Psycho, building up a protagonist to kill them halfway through. And like real life, these three are people, and sometimes death strikes without warning. It makes them visceral, tragic, and forces those left behind to grow.
> 
> But for the purpose of this story and its sequels, I will continue on the right. After all, incredible developments have been made on the brink of death. And we will see what exactly the Red core got up to in those five days.
> 
> For information's sake, Galaga froze because it was on level 256. Just like Mrs. Pac Man before, it overflowed and needed assistance.
> 
> I hope you guys aren't too mad at me for not posting this like I did over at FanFiction, and I'll see you in the next chapter!


	22. DisneyQuest Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters go to DisneyQuest and they're not dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now that I've incurred your wrath and grief over the past two chapters, let's try for some smiles, ok?
> 
> I've got a lot planned for this mini arc, so just hold on tight; the world is about to get a lot more complicated for our Codebusting heroes!
> 
> Disclaimer: There's a lot in here that I don't own, so much that listing it all would be a moot point. So let's just say that if it looks copyrighted, it probably is, ok?

Five days earlier, Miyoko yawned as the plane touched down. While DeeDee teased Toby about Katarzyna and Adia finished her whimsy sketch of E-Call from Mighty No. 9, she pulled out her iTouch and turned it on.

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

And then they were alive.

Consciousness came with a rush of the booting computer processor, her backed up data spawning her in the corner that she disintegrated in not five seconds earlier. First a wire frame of her avatar, then the nerve networks and mesh, then the colors that she painted herself with. She sat up, disbelieving that they were breathing the sterile iTouch air, and saw the wide brown eyes of her two friends lock with hers.

Choko immediately burst into tears, and Honey was hugging them close, unable to speak because her heart was locked in her throat and she could smell Skrillex's faint cologne, the chocolate in Choko's hair and they were gasping and beating and alive in her arms.

The girl's wails turned into exclamations of sheer joy, and Honey was laughing harder than she ever had before, kissing them all over their faces and shoulders and they were alive. Not dead, no Void from where she couldn't reach out and tell them how much she needed them—they cheated death and never before had Honey felt the hidden powers coursing through her veins so wonderfully.

She looked up to see Skrillex grinning with a painfully open happiness that gave him an aura of clean  _blue_  energy, and she giggled while brushing hot wetness from her cheeks, "It worked, your idea worked." She resisted the urge to scream for joy because she was talking in free space filled with air to breathe. "You son of a Chaos damned emerald-chaser, you saved us all."

They startled when they heard voices from outside the touch screen; Misha was in another airport terminal, loudly casting doubt as to whether or not Toby was man enough to stop being a "mighty wuss" and ask this Katarzyna girl out. They held on to each other tighter, and Honey whispered, "Where are we going now?"

"Either way..." Skrillex's eyes were locked on the moving world above them. "If we ever want to get back home, we must disconnect our backups from this iTouch."

"But where would we hold the data?" Choko rested her head on Honey's shoulder, shaking hands clinging to Skrillex's shirt. "To hold our backups so freely in dangerous space could spell the end for us..."

Honey looked down to see her Action Replay thrumming in her fists; she didn't even know she'd summoned it. Memories of being so deep in its influence, speaking without words and breathing in pure code flashed through her mind, and she trembled with a sudden idea. "What if...we just use our Action Replays as the holding space?"

They looked at her with eyes flooded with brown irises, and she swore they were turning blue as she continued in a rush, "We just cheated death guys, who says we can't just bend the rules even more? It's not like we don't risk our lives with every monster of the week with our codes locked away in far away games; this way we're keeping it close, keeping it powered under our touch..."

"..we'd be immortal." Skrillex exhaled. "As long as our Action Replays aren't damaged, we'd just respawn wherever it'd put us..." They started to laugh breathlessly, the thrill of not being dead making them believe the most impossible things. "We can do it, we just need to convert the files into code that can be assimilated into the cartridges."

And then they were beyond themselves, sinking lower into the blue sea that made Honey's eyes roll back to see galaxies and her fingers tingle with the sensation of rearranging the universe pixel by pixel. Their hearts were beating in sync with hers, and she tasted life blossom like honey over her tongue.

* * *

Honey sat in their corner, breathing deeply as the citizens of the iTouch prepared themselves for another landing. From what they heard from Miyoko, they were doing to a place called "DQ" to dock for a brief moment before they headed off to the "parks". The Codebusters were getting off as soon as they could, since Ooga warned them that their owner was in the bad habit of running out her battery; Honey could live without the sensation of deresolution, thank you very much.

Her body was thrumming faintly, residual energy from the delicate cartridge in her internal inventory making her want to run and beat her Sonic's personal 12K record. But Misha was giggling as Toby was flustered by a full-figured blonde hugging him close—she gave Skrillex a smirk and he calmly responded by flicking her ear—and they were in a plaza heading towards a giant building. "Ooga, is this DQ?"

"As far as I can tell!" He and his fellow iTouch friends circled around them, eyes blazing with determination. "Once we dock you need to get out and run before she unplugs us again. If there's a computer in the building then you can get to a Search Port like Safari or Google, and go back to the arcade."

"Hai, Ooga-kun!" Choko stood up on slightly shaking legs and hugged her friend, adding with a smile, "And don't hesitate to come back to the arcade, ok? Just warn us ahead of time about suspicious new ports."

They laughed and Honey released some of that clean  _blue_  energy into the air. The time for despair was long gone, and they were on another grand mission; no rest for the Codebusting and all that.

The screen clicked off as Misha went into the building and they could hear the USB port getting plugged in. Moving down the bright white halls, they hovered outside the exit, waiting for the all clear to bail. While Honey admitted that it was fun to actually go in a mobile game device, she was itching to leave and get back to—she gasped. How long were they out? Long enough for her Sonic to worry? Cold seeped into her gut at the thought; they needed to get back as soon as possible.

Skrillex noticed her stricken expression and squeezed her hand; she ducked her head so he wouldn't see the stupidly happy grin that stretched across her face. That clever little bastard, too hipster to die like normal people did in a power shut down, she owed him a root beer or twenty.

The iTouch vibrated with the influx of energy and Ooga yelled, "It's now or never! Good luck!"

Grabbing on to Skrillex's lapel and Choko's hand, Honey ran as fast as she dared and it was like back home, pushing her limits to the edge of a sonic boost. Skrillex was yelling and Choko was cheering, and Honey jumped out of the end of the port to roll along the ground. Freedom!

Dark blue lines glowed in the glassy black ground, and Honey didn't recognize the model of the power strip, if they were even in one. Adjusting her jumpsuit, she turned and blew a goodbye kiss to the port before following the lines. They formed arrows and the walls of the tunnel they were in were covered in signs saying "Welcome!" in too many languages for her to count.

"What is this place..." Choko froze as they heard laughter ahead. Then she was the one dragging them forward, yelling, "I heard a few 女の子 (onna no ko) ahead, they're giggling about roller coasters and cute boys and—こんにちは！(Kon'nichiwa!)"

A gaggle of Vocaloid girls accepted Choko cheerfully into their Japanese conversation, and Honey wrung her hands. Roller coasters? Were they by a Roller Coaster Tycoon? Skrillex shrugged since he knew as much Japanese as Honey consciously did—half a step above diddly squat—and titled her head when Choko waved them over. "We're not in Kansas anymore, are we babydoll?"

"Honey-neesan...Miku-san and Yukari-san told me a lot about this place." Honey flushed with the added title; she knew that much. Before she could develop a small complex, she saw an elevator was waiting in front of them, and through transparent glass walls Honey could see other groups of people waiting for their own ride. "And I think we have to see it to believe it."

They piled into the tube and marveled at how it expanded to fit the Codebusters, the Vocaloids and a straggling group of Hungry Lumas and a bubblegum-chewing Rosalina. She offered them all gum and Honey shrugged; it was flavored with honey and got the taste of static out of her mouth. With a cheerful whistle it launched them up and over through a rainbow of lights, and were they going through the electrical system?

The elevator touched down and the doors opened to let the Hungry Lumas run away shrieking in delight, Rosalina flag down two of her twins already present, and the Vocaloids bid Choko farewell and run off into the crowd of people. Music was playing from every corner and lights of every color were flashing around them, and Honey couldn't breathe because it was beautiful.

She slowly walked into the center of the great space, and she could see hundreds of ports and tunnels in the walls that curved over them like a spaceship sphere; and unless she was tripping out, there were roller coasters and gliders looping through the air, people in costumes taking pictures with giggling programs. Pixie dust fell from the ceiling that was covered in delicate metal and glass work, and they dusted her jumpsuit as if she'd run through a supernova.

Skrillex was slowly smiling because that little snot-nose was losing himself to the music, Choko looked on in wonder with big brown eyes lit up by stars, and Honey looked down to see that the floor was made of golden clockwork. At the center was a giant loop with two smaller ones on the side, and they thrummed with warm energy that made her want to cheer like a five year old child.

A slickly dressed man around Skrillex's age slid up to them, brandishing a large camera. "Can I get you three to smile for the picture?" Choko moved in front of Honey to grin cheekily and throw up a double V-sign, while Skrillex smiled bashfully by Honey's side and Honey could only fighting down the urge to giggle. A flash of light that somehow smelled like vanilla later, he showed them the picture and it was admittedly quite good. "Pretty picture from pretty ladies, da?" He held out his hand. "Trolmir Fandov, I am photographer. Can I post this on blog for world to see your happy smiles?"

"S-Sure..."

"Khorosho!" He shook all their hands—he kissed Choko's knuckles, making her giggle—and saluted. "Well, I must go take more pictures!" He turned, but then called back, "Oh, and be welcome to DisneyQuest!"

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

Skrillex was many things—Codebuster, music maker, both a little and older brother figure for select people—but deep within his code he shared many traits with his namesake. And one of them was "Disneyland fanboy on par with Sora's enthusiasm for anything with Mickey ears".

So when somehow they ended up at DisneyQuest, the indoor virtual theme park in the middle of Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Skrillex just about had an aneurysm from the sheer joy. A joyurysm, to be exact, and only the fact that they had to go home as soon as possible kept him from abandoning all hope and diving straight into the madness.

He grabbed on to Choko before she could barrel forward, and breathed out, "We gotta...we need guest assistance?"

"You called?"

He did not yelp from the sudden words darn it, he calmly turned to see a girl in a blue uniform and she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

He knew some things about beauty—Suri was beautiful in that neon flashing confidence way, Pixie was a pretty sort of beautiful that was covered in sparkles and bubbles, Layla was smoother and richer in her beauty, and Judy...well, Judy was Judy. But this woman has short white-blonde hair that looked like starlight under her cap and was masterfully proportioned—she was taller than he so he could see the taper of her waist, how her legs curved down into sleek platform boots—with these perfectly curved pink lips and he could only exhale softly, because her eyes were a clearer blue than even the Action Replay glowing in his soul.

Skrillex couldn't peak, couldn't look away from her face because she was so beautiful it hurt him in a terrifying sort of way, and she smiled with a faint dimple in her left cheek. "Good afternoon, guests! My name's Elsie, and I'm an ELA program—Electronic Layman's Assistant—here at DisneyQuest. You mentioned that you needed some help?"

Honey, thank Litwak for Honey because Elsie's name refused to come out of his throat where it was making beautiful music in the words he didn't dare say. "Yes, Elsie, can you help us? We need to get back home, since we kinda came here in an iTouch, it's a long story..."

"You mean you're from Ms. Tobigawa-Martinez's iTouch?" Elsie clasped her hands together. "We knew she was coming earlier, but we didn't know there would be people busing in..."

Choko laughed a little, still overwhelmed and Skrillex idly wondered if she could see how hard Elsie had affected him. "Well, not so much busing in as getting accidentally taken out of our arcade and put here. Is there any way for us to go home, Elsie-san?"

"Oh, not at all! Follow me to my station, please?" And even through the crowds of people Skrillex could see her clearly; maybe it was her outfit, so professional but feminine and all sorts of flight attendant-meets-TRON-Siren, maybe it was how purposefully she walked with her head held high and confident...and maybe it was because her white hair caught all the glittering lights and he couldn't look away from the rainbow on the nape of her neck.

"So you need transportation back home?" She was sitting with her legs crossed at the ankle as the holographs and translucent panels haloed her face like an electric glory. "Ok, do you have an IP address for your residence?"

Skrillex blurted out the string of numbers for the computer room, and felt his knees grow weak when Elsie giggled; she was a soprano, synthetic harp chords making delicate blue in the vibrant purples and golds around them. "Fast talker, aren't you? Well, let's see if I can get you guys a ride home..."

While she typed away Skrillex forced himself to stop looking at her hands; the fingers were just a bit longer and rounder than his, it was strange to see anyone with hands his size but there it was. To his left Honey was gaping at a giant coaster crashing overhead to thunderous cheers, and to his right Choko was giving him this ridiculous soft smile that he ignored because he didn't want to know what his face was doing.

"Oh no." Elsie leaned back, "Nellie, can you come over here and confirm this?" Elsie's identical twin—another ELA program, but for some reason Elsie was much prettier in his eyes, he didn't care to explain why—slid over, frowning lightly. "So it's real then?"

"Yeah..." Nellie tapped away before leaving. "Offer them rooms with those credits, they're not going anywhere."

"Sorry guys." Elsie smiled sheepishly and light caught the Hidden Mickey on her cap. "But there's a Twitter trending hurricane across the North American server collective. I can reroute you guys back to your homes through the Scandinavian route, but there's a disturbance going on in Asia over a satire blog publishing one too many false hope posts...I'm afraid that until Saturday or so you're kinda stuck here."

Honey sputtered and Choko gripped on to the counter top, but Skrillex only sighed; he knew a little about the Internet and its pathways, but he wouldn't risk an early move. "Is there anywhere for us to stay?"

Elsie's smiled was genuine now and he lost himself a little in a swell of longing adoration. "Well, you're in the right place. DisneyQuest offers a large selection of hotel suites within the complex and outsourced to the various resorts in our hyperlink connections." She placed her pals flat on the counter and the holograhic panels around her head rearranged themselves, flashing images of various rooms in myriads of themes. "From traditional Disney to NintendoLand aesthetics to nature simulations, we make sure that there's something for any guest here.

"And since you're stuck here on accident, we're offering rooms at half price for you." She shrugged lightly. "Personally, I've always wanted to stay in the Axiom Quarters. It's located in DisneyQuest, next to the End of Line Club and the fifth floor with Ride the Comix and all the experimental Disney arcade games..."

Skrillex looked at Honey and Choko, then nodded. "W-We'd like those, please."

"Perfect!" She typed something into her console and the music changed again, Gem's ethereal motif from Outlands, Pt. II making Skrillex want to sing every love song he knew. "For a three bed suite, that'll be...fifty credits." She paused. "Fifty five Sonic rings, fifty seven Mario coins, there's an exchange center to the left in case you need—"

"No, it's fine." Between private gigs and Codebusting Skrillex wasn't exactly hurting for cash. He pulled out the credits and pressed them into her hand; it was soft and warm and he caught a whiff of perfume when she leaned in, he couldn't identify it but it made him melt all the same. She handed him three glassy cards, "These are your access keys and week long passes to the rides in and out of DisneyQuest's internal structures."

She pointed at a cluster of ports, "See those? Those are games that gamers outside play in here. You may enter anyone ringed in green, as those are specially modified with guest areas that you can visit even during game hours. Games rings in white are after-hours only, and ports ringed in red are invitation-only, as they are for the residents who live and work here."

Choko spoke up, "What kinds of games are here, Elsie-san?"

Elsie smiled at her and Skrillex was tired of being hit over the head with how gorgeous she was, it was like drowning in Judy all over again except that there was no hidden agendas and jealousy, no cycles of toxic romance...just Elsie replying with a voice he saved to memory, "Nearly every arcade game before 2001, along with many more recent ones. I believe that there's about 6 or so Sugar Rush console here."

"Eee!" Choko looked ready to blast off into the stratosphere, and Skrillex had to laugh; he could always count on her to show proper enthusiasm for any situation. "We must go visit them as soon as possible! Niisan, neesan, can we go see?"

Skrillex bit his bottom lip as Honey and Choko made a plan of attack now that they were staying. That was right, Choko considered them family now...he gently ruffled her hair, avoiding her swat and cry of "Watch the chopsticks!". Today was an interesting day.

Elsie was looking at him with this expression too, one that he'd seen Suri give Joel when he acted like a nice human being. Her electric blue eyes were really soft, and her lips were curved in a smile that begged him to press his mouth to but he didn't dare to even dream about that. "You two aren't from the same game, are you?"

"No, but she's my little sis all the same." He smiled briefly, hands fumbling uselessly with the cards. "So...ummm..."

"Would you like me to show you around?"

"What?"

She laughed again, bell tones that were more beautiful than anything he'd ever created in their purity. "Well, usually I just man the desks and appear whenever guests need help. But since you guys came here on accident, I should assist you guys in getting assimilated." She paused, eyebrows furrowing, "Unless you want a different ELA. I can get my sisters Ellie or Helsette or Elenadora to do it—"

"Please show us around, Ms. Elsie." And Skrillex was never teasing Honey again because she just saved him from a heart attack. "You seem like you know your way around a giant indoor arcade of awesome."

Elsie grinned and shut down her terminal, stepping out into the lights that span around the main entrance. "Well then, let's get this tour started! As I've said my name is Elsie, and I was programmed to help make DisneyQuest the most program-friendly experience both inside and outside of the screen..."

He let the words wash over him like so much wondrous music, and wondered if they'd actually died and this was where programs went to in the After.

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

Choko inhaled as a giant roller coaster flipped through the air, controlled by a cackling Bill Nye the Science Guy-sensei. Elsie-san was taking them through the second floor, and Choko didn't know that both during and after hours the virtual coaster builder was accessible by guest programs, that was nice to know. Plans to make the Ultimate Spacecart Launcher floated around her mind until she stored it into memory, and she was getting used to having her Action Replay boost all of her data capacities.

Honey-neesan was joking around about moving here since back home she could never get a true vacation, and Choko was happy to see that the momentary panic in her eyes back in the iTouch was gone. Five days wasn't too terribly a long time, everyone at home would be fine without them.

Choko sneaked a glance at Skrillex-niisan, who was currently watching Elsie-san describe the elevator schedules. She saw him melt earlier, completely in love with the woman, and Choko was thrilled; she loved romance, and Elsie-san was such a nice lady, much kinder than that Judy-san whom Honey-neesan and Leia-hime whispered mean things about when they thought no one was listening. And his eyes were so open, his posture so helpless...Choko watched a Tinkerbell flit by and wished for them to find happiness together.

Behind them over the balcony DisneyQuest stretched on, and Choko sighed in wonder. DQ was simply grand, six physical floors of plug ins and a virtual theme park resort hidden in the electrical system. Choko had heard of arcade megaplexes before—Club SEGA, Hey! Taito and Tobikomi GiGo came to mind—but she'd never even dreamed of visiting one; she didn't know the first steps in actually crossing between buildings! At least iTouch travel was confirmed to be one route, albeit rather risky.

And the air smelled like happiness, a mix of vanilla and mint and clean water and sparkles that tasted like Disney. No wonder Sora-kun loved Disney and the kingdom of his King Mickey-heika so much, Choko was about to die from the excitement! Elsie-san made a clever comment on how the internal programs of DisneyQuest were far superior to the outside world that make Choko laugh, and she was filled with such sudden joy that she could hardly stand it.

They were alive. They were alive and safely backed up into their Action Replays and she was catching stars falling from the gilded blue and gold atriums. And there was just so much to see, so much to live for that when a group of Choko Pockysticks swarmed by flashing their cameras, she nearly burst into tears.

Honey-neesan's hand was firm on her shoulder, keeping her grounded, and she grabbed on to Skrillex -niisan's wrist when Elsie-san moved ahead. "And this elevator will take us to the Axiom Quarters. Once we get you guys settled there, we can continue either through the in-system exclusive attractions or go down the Cave of Wonders Electric Slide to the third floor."

After having a small spazz attack—electric slides are the best kind of slides—Choko ran into the elevator, blushing lightly when Elsie giggled at her enthusiasm. But the guest assistance lady wasn't very concerned with decorum herself; she struck a magnanimous pose and demanded in a wonderfully melodramatic tone, "Kronk! Pull the lever!"

Choko shrieked as the elevator fell fast enough to lift her off the ground. Honey-neesan was saying a lot of adult things in a short amount of time and Skrillex-niisan was femininely screaming, but Elsie-san only laughed, "Wrong lever!"

The elevator zoomed around and up a different track without a beat, and soon they were on the fifth floor, Choko laughing because she couldn't stand straight and Elsie-san had no business smiling so deviously when a passing ELA program merely rolled her eyes. "Get used to her kiddies, Elise's a maniac."

"I prefer...adrenaline enthusiast." She clapped her hands together, "So, to your suite for your week-long stay!"

Choko decided to stick close to Elsie-san; she needed to see if the woman was good enough to be a possible contender for Skrillex-niisan's heart. "So, do you like working here, Elsie-san?"

"It's like a dream." She sighed happily, "There are many programs dedicated to keeping DisneyQuest the best place possible for visiting guests all around the world. Some, like the MARI and SUSAN collectives function like the technicians and custodians of this resort, keeping everything in top shape. The ION programs are the medical core, the JET group are a mix of electrician and security, and the AMIS are like the bosses behind the scenes.

"The ELA programs are lucky enough to be the ones that directly interact with the guests here, as guest assistance, tour guides, lost and found directors...and I just love making people happy, since this is the only place I think can claim the title of happiest place on earth." She stopped in front of a sleek metal door, motioning, "And this is one of those happy-making jobs. Hopefully this suite will fit your needs."

The interior was set in shades of white and gray, but covered in rainbow glass, ranging from the holograms controlling the fridge to the screens over the windows, stars glittering to form Hidden Mickeys in the translucent light. It was so inherently  _pleasing_  that she wondered if being so connected to her Action Replay caused her to jump on to the clean white couch and act like a sugar rushing three year old, but she saw Honey-neesan running around squealing in delight and Skrillex-niisan announcing in a somber tone that he will find a way to translate the room's aesthetics into music.

Elsie-san was smiling brightly at the door, bit her lip as Skrillex-niisan raised his arms like a conductor before a gigantic orchestra, "So do you like your rooms?"

Choko smiled; Elsie-san passed the test. "Yes, I think they're fit to our needs."

* * *

Choko sat heavily on the side of her levitating bed, sighing as the day's energies rolled off her like melted chocolate. After getting settled in—which was easy to do since they didn't have any luggage like normal tourists—Elsie-chan ran them through DisneyQuest's gauntlet. From the racing game corner to the three tiered food court to the giant Ferris wheel that doubled as a light show on certain nights, the Codebusters saw nearly everything that the resort had to offer.

Elsie-chan had to go once DQ's operating hours closed, and they were tired from not being dead. Not physically tired—Choko felt static discharging from her swinging feet, she needed to burn off this energy during the week if she was ever going to learn how to sit still again—so much as kinda emotionally wrung, because the euphoria was fading a bit and the darkness hiding from the rainbow lights reminded her of what being derezzed tasted like and

And she died earlier today.

She really didn't want to cry because it was pointless, but she had been so afraid in that one moment before she hit the end of the tunnel and collapsed into nothing. And for all that it was going to be wonderful staying here, they were so far from home, so far away from Vanellope-heika and her racers and friends and...she looked over to see Honey-neesan staring blankly at the light paneled ceiling, and wondered what she was thinking about.

"You know..." Honey-neesan was lying casually on her bed, arms crossed against the ridiculously soft pillow and hair falling in her eyes. "Back when I was a glitch but before I froze over, my Sonic and I would just pour over our Game Genie, pretending to be gods that could shape the world as we saw fit.

"He always wanted to make the world a perfect plain where he could just run for a thousand miles in any direction, and I wanted mountains to climb and oceans to swim in. Rainbows too, I love the color red the most but all of them are so beautiful when the world you grew up in was in eternal shadow."

Honey-neesan took a slow breath in and out, and Choko saw Skrillex-niisan return from the balcony, looking more melancholy than she'd ever seen him. Honey shorted faintly, "But most of all we wanted to live. We wanted my code to stop being broken and to just run...run away and live forever in one non-stop adventure.

"So color me surprised when after all this crap, after being frozen then becoming a Codebuster and by the name of Chaos, we died earlier this morning, b-but we're still here!" She laughed but the noise caught in her throat, "Look at us! We're like energizer bunnies because for all intents and purposes, our game is an Action Replay and we can die outside of games as long as we don't screw up our cartridges. How unbelievable is that, how freaking amazing and wonderful and t-terrifying—" She hid her eyes with a folded arm as she laughed, "What a way to fulfill that wish!"

Skrillex-niisan sat on his own bed, holding his stomach. "And we can't tell anyone that doesn't already know, which amounts to people back home. Imagine what crazies with heads full of ultimate power would want to do with us."

Choko began to shake, mind buzzing with half-formed images before they were chased away and banished by a spectrum of blue. "I bet they think we're dead. Our friends and loved ones only know that we left in an iTouch, which Miyoko-ooju turned off..."

They were silent for a while...before Skrillex-niisan murmured, "I hope that Joel didn't cry. He's my best friend outside the Codebusters, and he better not have cried over me."

"I hope my Sonic did cry, and that people made sure he didn't run off into dangerous games like when Mighty and Ray died."

"I have a bad feeling that my girl friends aren't going to be very happy, especially Roll-chan and Mee Mee-chan..."

"Ugh, not to mention what Dr. Robotnik will say. 'I told the girl to stay out of trouble, nag nag nag, this is what happens to pesky teenagers and their code altering machines, ya ya ya.'"

"Pfft, you think that's bad? I can see it now, the 'Let's Roast Skrillex Hour', hosted by all the DJs who got drunk off of cheap liquor and can't enunciate to save their lives."

"Hah, my friends' grief will far outstrip yours! Vanellope-heika will erect statues of me, gilded with edible gold and able to withstand the most brutal of chocolate milk rainstorms!"

They paused, then burst into laughter, rolling around and soaking the pillows with tears. Then static stung their eyes and they shrieked, Skrillex-niisan throwing his pillow at Honey-neesan. She retaliated by launching off her bed into his stomach, and Choko piled on to the fight, kicking and tickling and laughing hard enough to make the world sing in streaks of light and  _blue_.

Her friends...her family, her nakama had five days to burn until they could return home and prove that the rumors of their deaths had been greatly exaggerated. And with so much energy to burn and so much to do—Choko needed to slide down the slide 178 more times, go on all the roller coasters at least twice, make sure that her niisan actually got the girl and not some weird love scandal, and take all the selfie pictures with her neesan—she didn't doubt that this little adventure was going to be yet another blast.

The neon lights from the glass panels softened as they fell asleep in a tangle, and their internal clocks counted down for the next day in their renewed lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THEY AREN'T DEAD GUYS, I SWEAR.
> 
> So, where exactly are my darling Red core of Codebusters? DisneyQuest!
> 
> Yes, DisneyQuest, the "indoor interactive theme park" located in Downtown Disney at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. For gamers, it's a slightly outdated place to blow a fun afternoon in. But for game characters across all spectrums of the gaming world, it's their own Disneyland-meets-Axiom-meets-TRON City.
> 
> Elsie the ELA program is going to be very involved in this little mini-arc. And yes, I just wrote Sonny boy having the most overdone "love at first sight" reaction of my life and I love it. Will they or won't they, it's up for me to write and for you to read and rage about how obvious I'm making things.
> 
> The other programs mentioned will appear, along with many, MANY other characters from a bunch of games. While the Codebusters may be on yet another vacation, the tough times are around the corner!
> 
> So...how exactly are they alive, you ask?
> 
> Well, lemme put it as simply as possible. They backed up their data to the iTouch, severing their connections to their games; if they died in those games they would've stayed dead since their data is no longer there. I realize that's not how it works in real life, but for the sake of making things simple that's how it's happening here.
> 
> They "died" when Misha turned off her iTouch, and came back when it got turned back on. Then they backed up their data to their Action Replays because screw the rules, they have the most powerful data altering mechanisms in their world outside of direct code modification.
> 
> Now they've got a lot of energy stored up in their bodies due to residual energies from the cartridges seeping into their data, and they can die outside of games since their "game"/respawn algorithm is the Action Replay. As long as it stays in their hands, they stay alive. Oh, and they have a complex about glass and the color blue, since that's how their Action Replays are represented as in this story.
> 
> So...yeah. That just happened.
> 
> I HOPE YOU LIKED IT GUYS, I'M REALLY EXCITED FOR THIS ARC.
> 
> Read and review my lovelies, and hold on tight, because I love Disneyland to death and therefore so will these little bastards!


	23. DisneyQuest Pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters party in DisneyQuest for a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *waves sheepishly*
> 
> Umm...hi?
> 
> So, about the whole not updating thing...yeah, a lot of things happened these past few weeks. I burned out, my grandma died, finals weeks came and went...and most of all, I got caught up in so many different creative directions that it took forever to come back down to this little story. Hopefully this silly update isn't a let down from the big wait!
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own...hey, you can make it a drinking game of picking out all the stuff I don't own :D

**Choko's POV**

* * *

 

Choko woke up with a surge of energy, as if manually booting up. Throwing herself out of bed, she clamored into the pristine shower and shrieked when a halo of control panels bloomed around her face, glass glowing and feeding the urge in her soul to do all the things at once.

But she couldn't run around DQ in such a state—her hair was a total mess, and she swore she still smelled like iSterile—and decided to take the most intense shower of her life. While a spectrum of pink lit up the room and warm water jets soaked her skin in a custom cherry blossom soap/水飴 (mizuame) mix, she sang as loud as she dared to the Mr. Wonderful playing from the surround sound speakers. It was simply decadent, and she lingered in the shower for a good half hour reveling in the sensations, blue static playing against pink bubbles and sugared steam refreshing her system.

Reluctantly leaving, she pressed a button on a glass screen and the room was purged of steam and condensation, leaving her in a fluffy blue towel and idly wondering what to wear; she was off duty so her jumpsuit would be a little tacky, and her kimono seemed so...plain. Luckily Honey-neesan was much prepared for random trips, and the cat banged on the door with a muffled, “Come on, it's my turn! Just do your hair and get out here, I already picked up some clothes for ya!”

Choko quickly brushed her hair out and decided to leave it down, letting Honey-neesan take control of the bathroom from heaven. Skrillex-niisan had apparently woken up earlier, dressed in casual black and fooling around on his laptop. Cups of hot chocolate—that was right, Elsie-san had said that Disney hot chocolate was best chocolate—were balanced with cinnamon rolls on the nightstand, and he shrugged, “Had to check out the breakfast in this place. So far so good.”

With zeal befitting a sugar rush (was it her or was everything so much clearer, more vibrant with little sparkles of blue just beyond her peripherals?) she drank a huge gulp of hot chocolate, and oh yeah, she needed to get this recipe. Did they put happiness in the cup along with whatever blend of cocoa? Skrillex-niisan was laughing at her expression, and had she not been reaching for a delicious smelling cinnamon roll, she would've thrown a pillow at him. Oh well, picking her battles and whatnot.

Halfway through her entirely too amazing cinnamon roll she realized that maybe she should put on more clothes, and ignoring Skrillex-niisan dramatically shielding his eyes, slipped into the sky blue (perfect blue really) dress Honey-neesan left her. It came with a pink striped pinafore, white stockings and a black hairband, so she suited up and span around giggling, “How do I look?”

Skrillex-niisan grinned, “Like you're ready for an adventure.” He held up an artfully tattered top hat, “I think Honey gave us a theme; I knew I should've gone with her to the clothing store thing...” He let Choko fix the hat on him, smirking when she played with the sash trailing behind his head; it wasn't her fault it was so silky smooth and wonderful to her buzzing fingertips! “You figure she'll take a long shower since she's a girl, or a short one because she's a cat?”

“Like you have any room to talk, Mr. I'm Just Gonna Stand In The Shower For Two Hours!” Honey strutted out and Choko widened her eyes because her older sister was decked in red and black, hearts abound and the hem of her skirt hiding shiny black boots Choko knew were fit for running as well as modeling. “Now that we're all clean and at least partially fed...well, which floor do you wanna start with?”

Choko nearly bowled her over as she ran into the front room, looking for shoes. None of them seemed to go well with her outfit, so she just modified her racing boots to look like Mary Jane shoes. Much happier with how she looked, she looked around for her Action Replay until she remembered with a giggle that it was in her soul inventory, and turned to make a face at her siblings. “Come on, let's go on the Ferris wheel and ooh, can we check out the racing games? And the Sugar Rush from here? Oh, maybe this place has a Sonic the Fighters and AUGH if it does we gotta help so come on, move your molasses, dattebane!”

She didn't even care that she dropped a dattebane or that she sounded like Marzipanne-chan on crack, only that the three briskly walked—or at least until Honey-neesan shoved Skrillex-niisan, then they were running and laughing and tripping over themselves and too happy to care about the smirks passed between the various vacationers and DQ programs out and about—out into the pixie dusted atrium in themed style.

Adventure was out there, and she didn't die and regenerate in a miracle just to watch it pass her by.

* * *

 

**Honey's POV**

* * *

 

The Ferris wheel had been a barrel of gut-busting fun. The little gondolas did loops around the spinning circle of rainbow chrome, and nothing beat watching their hair fan upwards in zero-G as they tried to catch falling glasses and hats before they flew out the window. Honey was practically purring with delight as they got to stay on for another round, the ride attendant laughing that their shrieks of agonized joy brought in new customers.

Elsie showed up when they were lingering by a bubble blowing bar, trying to make hidden Mickeys from little iridescent globes. Skrillex was besotted with her as usual, although a bit more refined in his true love, and Honey resolutely focused on her bubble wand when he accidentally compared her eyes to the ethereal lights glowing through the atrium.

But she laughed it off with far more grace than Honey expected, earning much more brownie points than other girls whom Skrillex had ever made googly eyes at, and the ELA program handed Choko a little glass pad. “I may have mentioned to the heads of DisneyQuest's Sugar Rush about your interesting transport here, and when I described your previous jumpsuit—it said Codebuster on the lapel, right?—they extended an invitation for a tea party later today.”

Choko squealed and Honey smiled as a fond rush of big sister feelings flooded her systems. The kid deserved all the tea parties her little stomach could handle, and Honey ruffled her hair, “Make sure not to wow them too much, babydoll, or they'll never let you leave.”

Elsie laughed, and ok, she had a really nice laugh and her nose scrunched up like a bunny; totally adorable. But if Choko was now her little sis, then Skrillex was her vitriolic best brother, and not just any bunny-nosed guest attendant was allowed to make him swoon; Elsie was gonna have to work for it. “You busy tonight, Miss Elsie?”

She shook her head, “I have today and tomorrow's nights off thanks to a new batch of ELA programs starting work...” Elsie smiled, “I have to go greet the morning's big Brazilian group, but let's meet up. Say, the End of Line Club once arcade hours are closed?”

The End of Line Club was a glowing white nook in between rows of Axiom suites and various games that only opened once the arcade closed and people from all over DisneyQuest were really allowed to play. Honey nodded, as Choko was too young but otherwise occupied with her invitation. “It's a date then.”

While Skrillex inhaled his bubble mix, Elsie grinned and went her merry way, becoming just another blue figure in the unending crowd. Honey adjusted her red and black gown, and declared, “Let's blow this bubble stand; the roller coasters are calling our names.”

Really, the only downside to DQ was the ridiculous lines. And it wasn't even peak hours yet! They got caught behind an overly polite group of CHL boys, but once they caught wind of a little Tim Hortons outlet neatly plugged into the ride line, a gigantic mosh of suddenly rabid Canadian characters thrashed their way over and freed up breathing space for them. Honey blinked, unsure if she should appreciate the room or be concerned for the now swamped cashiers. “Wow...they must really like their coffee?”

“I should get some of that for Joel; one guy mentioned Timbits when we were screwing around in Minecraft with Bob and he just about exploded with glee.”

Honey decided to pass the time by learning the insanely complicated hand games Choko learned from the other candy brats. And she was both mortified and amused by how dirty some of the singing lines got; the “Miss Suzy” ditty had Skrillex laughing and a pair of snooty parents cupping their precious snowflakes' delicate ears. As if those kids didn't already know the words, and at least Choko's version had nice candy puns.

Finally, finally they got to Cyberspace Mountain. It was one of the games that allowed characters to interact with a holographic version during arcade hours, and Honey saw visions of loops that looped around barrel rolls in her future. Bill Nye the Coaster Guy (and wasn't that a blast from the past? She remembered her Sonic telling her stories about gamers who kept quoting this doc and getting Mr. Litwak in on the fun) welcomed them in, and they got sorted into their own little booth. “Let's bring the chaos.”

“We should obviously go to Grumba 12 and race our coaster through an asteroid belt.” Choko began to giggle, “And then we drop through negative gravity for great justice!”

“I don't think it works that way?” Skrillex was such a little killjoy, looking all concerned about the chance of a lifetime to make loops in outer space.

“Move aside, Mad Hipster, the ladies are the ones with the plans today.” Honey and Choko crowded over the coaster building machine, and began to create.

“Hang on for your life, of course, red is the color of the day.”

“While I'm content in my blue, I must agree....woah, space is pretty!”

“Hey Mr. Nye, how to we get this thing to loop for ages?”

“Honey, that sounds—”

“Just use the tools on the left, and make sure to fit your track in the space allowed. We have more leeway since we're nothing the main game, but please don't crash into the walls of DQ.”

“But that sounds like fun!”

“Babydoll, you need to redefine 'fun' to not include 'grievous injury to our persons'—”

“We blast off here and ramp up the first loop, so it can them spew us out into another inversion.”

“Hmm, we need more speed to make the next set of pretzel loops and classic barrel rolls, so add another boost track between them. Nye-sensei, can we test with the crash dummy now?”

“Certainly!”

“...!”

“Ok, too much boost.”

“Are you sure? Because—”

“Choko, the dummy turned into a rocket and blasted into bits against the asteroid.”

“Fine, we can cut it back just a bit.”

“We need more danger loops and nebula corkscrews for great justice.”

“Guys—”

“And more speed boosts through the black hole!”

“ _Guys_ —”

“And a big layered quadruple butterly inversion top hat loop!”

“GUYS!”

“Yes, niisan?”

“...you know what? Screw it, just make sure there's enough drops to fill an album with.”

* * *

 

Skrillex christened their beast of a roller coaster as the Atomic Banshee, citing the many screams it'll generate in its lifetime. Off the charts of the thrill-o-meter with 37 total inversions and top speed of 300 mph, some of the less ambitious builders decided to join them on their maiden voyage through the airspace of DQ.

They clamored into the seats, sharing the front four-seat row with a cheerful anti-virus in a purple hoodie. While she and Choko hit it off swimmingly, talking about tea and cinnamon rolls, the oldest member of their party was wringing his hat like a dishrag; what a baby. The Atomic Banshee was cleared for launch, and as they approached the track, Honey let out a whoop. “To the pain!”

And then the launch happened.

Pinned to her seat, Honey could only scream with delight as they rocketed into space and into the chaos she helped spawn into the universe. Twisting left only to flip right, she couldn't tell what was up or down and her stomach was doing more acrobatics in her throat than an Olympic gymnast.

Skrillex was screaming too, unlocking his secret post-hardcore vocal skillset and adding thunderdeath lyrics to their inane soundtrack of yells and prayers for mercy. Between Jack Sparrow in the back and Choko's friend's bell-like shrieks, she could only make out words during the airtime between bunny drops.

“EHUEHUEHUEHUE!”

“FUS RO DAH! FUS RO DAH!”

“HAS ANYONE SEEN MY BOWELS?"

“AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FO DAT!”

And beginning from a blonde flapper who was having the time of her life, “I CAN SHOW YOU THE WORLD!”

Choko belted out during whiplash from an atomic plunge loop, “SHINING, SHIMMERING, SPLENDID!”

More and more people, especially the Disney characters began to join in, and those who didn't were torn between trying not to laugh and trying not to lose their breakfast as they skated dangerously through a black hole. “TELL ME PRINCESS—” Honey stuck her tongue out at a falsetto Skrillex “—NOW WHEN DID YOU LAST LET YOUR HEART DECIDE?”

Their singing got screwed up when they approached the mega loop a depraved Choko and Skrillex built. They shot up nearly upside down through a loop, then curved under to shoot into a series of increasing loops and drops in angles that defied Euclidean geometry.

“A WHOLE NEW WORLD!” Honey laughed as the voices were strained against the piling G-forces, and soon nobody was saying anything. Only their mouths were wide open from the celestial winds pushing their skin back over their heads, and Honey swore her heart was going into palpitations as they ramped up over the giant loop.

A moment of suspended silence as they arced over the top hat, where she seemed to float and everything was just like a dream...

Then Skrillex cackled with a manic gleam in his pupil-blown eyes, “And this is where the drop goes!”

And they dropped. They plummeted and broke some sort of sound barrier and screams were forced from their lungs even if they didn't have any air left to spare. Dots fizzled in her eyes and woah, _woah_ , where those Chaos Emeralds spinning in her brain or was that the flash memory of her Action Replay or was she just coming apart at the pixels again?

They landed with a gentle curve and gradually slowed down across a series of brakes, and they ended up in the station with wild hair and glassy eyes. Jack Sparrow coughed, “Did everyone see that? Because I will not be doing it again.”

* * *

 

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

 

For the rest of the day it was shaky legs and slow goings. Trolmir Fandov showed up again to take their pictures for a little special in the DisneyQuest Digest, and he hoped he didn't look as utterly mind-blown as he felt. As Choko wished her anti-virus friend (the poor kid's prosthetic leg had been arcing celestial fire the entire time and she said it made her feel all tingly still) goodbye, Skrillex offered Honey a soda to soothe her bubbling stomach. Ok, so maybe it was a bit more fun than he expected.

And there were less intense games to visit as well. They screwed around in Marble Madness, went head to head in a 4 player Pac Man and lost to a fourth player Marth, and Choko managed to charm their way into a Testarossa ride in OutRun 2. Not gonna lie, Skrillex was starting to see why some of his DJs liked fast-handing cars.

Eventually the arcade “closed” and Choko had her invite party to go to. “See you all back at the rooms?” She looked a little nervous; Skrillex chalked it up to either having to make a good first impression or actually separating for the first time since the whole iTouch incident.

“Just keep smiling and use the patented Choko Pockystix charisma.” Honey pinched her cheek and laughed when Choko kicked up her skirt in protest, then they did a nice group hug and waved Choko off. Skrillex hoped she had a good time, as his lil' sis needed a proper tea party to unwind to. Honey turned to him, “Well then, off to the club?”

He straightened his top hat and hooked his arm with Honey. “Off to the club.”

They battled with Kronk with control over the trippy elevator, and Skrillex had to fight down giggles when they finally stepped out to the End of Line Club; DQ was going to turn him into a toddler, that he was certain. Bass-heavy music was seeping through the ground into his ears and he exhaled away any lingering stress from the Atomic Banshee. It was like a home away from home, where his music needs could be sated.

Inside everything was decked in more blue and white, with leggy sirens walking around with drinks and two DJs making the dance floor throb with subtle, swelling trance. Honey pulled him to the bar because he was of full age and she needed some fairy cakes, and to his surprise a pair of twins no older than Choko were manning the bar. “Umm, hello?”

“Hi there!” The girl twin grinned, blue light reflected in her eyes and the barrettes on her pale braids, “Here's the end of the line on all drinks and desserts to keep patrons clubbing. What can I get for ya?”

“A...digitini for me, and a laserade for my friend. And a chocolate cupcake please.” The barmaid, Elysia according to her flashing white tag, got him the drinks with a flourish of tiny arms. “Thank you lots.”

“No problem sir...wait, no Aarun, you spit in the drinks of stiffers, not throw bottles at their heads.” Elysia went to correct her twin on properly dealing with scumbag customers, and Skrillex and Honey laughed into their drinks.

“Cuties,” Honey beamed as Elysia and Aarun had a burly recognizer of a security man bounce the stiffers out, “I wanna keep them.”

“I'm afraid you're at the end of the line for trying to kidnap DQ's favorite bartenders.”

Skrillex turned and saw Elsie sitting next to him, dolled up in a tunic dress lined with Tron lights that reaffirmed his headcanon that she was descended from a higher plane of existence. God tiers and all that dubstep, and she added with a laugh, “You figure people would at least ask before trying to walk out with them!”

“As older sister mentor to a very cute Sugar Rush racer, I can confirm that people kidnap first, talk second.” Skrillex smirked when he remembered when he'd brought Choko to DJ Hero 2 for a spin; Suri and Pixie had tried their hardest to integrate her into the game, and Honey was guilty of possessive thoughts as well.

The song changed and he fidgeted; it was fast paced enough to not be an awkward slow dance number, and her gloved hands were practically demanding that he man up and ask, but... “Hey Elsie, can you teach this stick in the static how to properly dance? I'm afraid he only knows how to mosh.”

Elsie grinned and Skrillex thanks his Action Replay that Honey was his winglady. “I do not only know how to mosh, thank you very much.”

“Then let's go.” Elsie grabbed onto his hand and it fit perfectly against his. She pulled him up and she smiled at Honey, “Will you be ok by yourself?”

“'Course.” Honey nodded at a Classic Sonic, Viridi and the blonde flapper from the Atomic Banshee, who were calling her over to share with her steadily increasing amounts of cupcakes. “Have fun kiddies.”

Skrillex and Elsie went onto the dance floor and to him, time melted into into a continuous dream as he managed to get insanely lucky one more time.

* * *

 

**Choko's POV**

* * *

 

Choko shyly walked up to the red-ringed Sugar Rush cabinet, then entered her invitation into the authorization slot. It beeped and she was permitted to enter, taking a go kart up through the cord to the opening of Mount Sourest. A racer with brown hair and green eyes greeted her, and Choko stopped; was this a...”Vanellope-hime?”

“Close.” The Vanellope recolor smiled, “The name's Cathernilla von Candelius, Empress of Sugar Rush, Miss Pockystix. As you can see,” She span around in her orange dress, “I'm a recolor of Vanellope von Schweetz, and this is the reason why I've invited you here today.”

Choko blinked as Cathernilla-kougo led her through Sugar Rush, and either she was still a little dizzy from the roller coaster or the color palette of the entire game was different. Sugar Bean Castle seemed to be made of vanilla and orange crème instead of vanilla and chocolate, and inside the pink had been replaced with soft peach, purple and gold. “Sugoi...”

“And here's the rest of the party.” She was led into what she knew what the main tea room from her tenure as the Queen's Secretary, and it was like her game's history all over again. Everyone was a palette swap, from Sticky Wipplesnit to Nougestia Brumblestain, and others she didn't even know. “Let's do a roll call, since our guest is here:

“Wanda Sparklemist, Creamolate Puddingpie, Persiphane Aprikernal, Orbette Spearsmith, Lemona Lisa, Velvetina Candelaria, Citrusella Flugpucker, Nougestia Brumblestain, Tiramissy Fluggermel, Slushine Colorstain, Sticky Wipplesnit, Torvald Suckertwist, Walter Meloncamp, Nutonio Fudgemunch, and finally...”

“Minty Sakura.” Choko walked up to her recolor, who was giving her a cryptic smile. “I...I used to be you. But how—”

“Are we recolors instead of our original models, Choko-chan?” Minty Sakura-chan smiled and it was identical to Choko's. “Well, if we knew we'd tell you.”

“Our game's been like this ever since we got plugged in.” Walter-kun wrapped his arm around Citrusella-chan's shoulder, “Even when we got restarted, rebooted, plugged in and out...our game prefers us this way apparently.”

Choko looked around and the palette swaps before being directed to sit next to Cathernilla-kougo and Sakura-chan. “That's very interesting; I bet it makes you stand out from the other cabinets at DisneyQuest?”

“You bet, but not as much as yours, Choko-chan.”

“Wait, what?” Choko tilted her head, “You know about my arcade?”

“Of course we do.” Sakura-chan was giving her that cryptic smile again, “Litwak's Arcade is all over Sugar Rush fan board and forums since your game is the only American console with the Japanese story mode and the European ability for costume changes.”

Cathernilla-kougo handed her a tablet with a Mickey Mouse head in place of an apple or window. It connected through DQ's wifi to view a selected article from a Sugar Rush wiki. “Liwak's Arcade, off the 83 in...what is all of this?”

A giant screen fluttered down and the tablet's contents were shown for everyone in its glory. Orbette-chan spoke in a pleasing phone operator voice, “Owned by famous game tester and programmer Toby Litwak's uncle, it features a special Sugar Rush cabinet that features both North American, Japanese and European content, making it noticeable even in the International releases.

“Sugar Rush is infamous for it's International that is, able to be played without region lockouts) arcade cabinets, that are unique for every one released. Scrapped characters from the “Official 16” were spread in those limited arcade cabinets, and have garnered fans from all over. After all, where would we be without the famous “Adventures of Borovnika Sugerplum and Ayaka Satomochi” YouTube machinima videos, or the unofficial Sugar Rush and Angry Birds crossover featuring Corporal Helmet? A recent fan poll on the “Best Extended Sugar Rush Roster Racers” revealed a large fanbase for characters like Vanillip von Schweetz, Cakehead, Sara Cherryeve, Creepie Treattricker and much more.

“The author of this article admits that her own favorite character is S'mourice Toastygraham from the Sugar Rush of her youth, and the fact that Litwak's Sugar Rush features content that she hasn't seen before is exciting for two reasons.

"One reason is that even in games long passed by with newer and brighter sequels, new content and concept art can be found. The author has even made a trip to the Litwak Sugar Rush, and can confirm that the thrill of racing with a short haired, violet-eyed Vanellope and a Choko with banana yellow hair in a gray jumpsuit is worth its own sugar rush.

"The next reason is the one we've all been waiting for...” Orbette paused as Choko read on and gasped. “With the new Sugar Rush: World Circuit game for Nintendo WiiU, Xbox One and PS4 coming for a 2014 release, the president of Tobikomi and father of the Sugar Rush series, Mtasuo Tobigawa, has announced that select arcades around the world who feature the limited edition International cabinets and those “with unique games that show off the creative spirit of Sugar Rush” will have their old Sugar Rush cabinets upgraded into a custom made Sugar Rush: World Circuit.”

Cathernilla-kougo smiled as Sakura-chan added slyly, “25 arcades are getting them, you and us included.”

Choko clutched onto her Action Replay, seeing stars and knowing that the future was full of them.

* * *

 

She hung out with the recolors, still a little heady from the reveal that she was getting a limited edition upgrade to her game. Citrusella-chan was very shy, much like her Bubblebetty-chan, but the actual recolor was the calm and confident Orbette-chan, who showed her how to properly blow a chewing gum bubble.

Their personalities were different just like their colors, but Choko liked it; she liked knowing that all around the gaming world, different versions of the “Official 16” and the extended cast were living their own lives and having fun. Everyone was at least linked by their love of sugar and speed, and Choko laughed when she refereed a spontaneous race around Candy Creme Castle.

The hours passed in a haze of different flavors she was used to, but sweetly all the same. And when Choko admitted in slight embarrassment (people have been playing her in her Red core suit and that was unintentional) about the functions of her duty as Codebuster, they immediately put her to work. Little glitches were eliminated, a tiny engine bug in level loading was fixed, and Choko triggered South Soda Summit to erupt and spray everyone with a shower of Sprite bubbles.

Everyone was laughing and she realized how much she enjoyed life. It wasn't like her to entertain these existential thoughts so much...but between gaining a true nakama and becoming an energizer bunny and just breathing in the air of a Sugar Rush she thought she'd never see...life was amazing.

She returned home with another invitation, this time extended to Honey-neesan and Skrillex-niisan, and couldn't help but skip along the way. She bumped into her friend Pixel-san the anti-virus from the Atomic Banshee and chirped, “I like your shoelaces.”

“Thanks, I stole them from the President.” They giggled, before Pixel-san tilted her head, “By the way, have you seen weird shadows around here lately?”

“Not that I'm aware of.” Choko looked around; was she glowing blue and making weird light shows on the ground. “Is there a problem?”

Pixel-san shook her head, “Nah, it's just me being paranoid; the Statera Anti-virus Software was made before 2006, so it's pretty traditionally designed.” She sighed; “I envy those Sugar Alice girls, I'm always on the clock.”

“Well, I know the creator of the Zielinska software girls—” Choko matched Toby-sama's paramour Katarzyna-sama to the young, talented creator of many computer security programs “—so just let me know if you want an upgrade.” Upgrades for everyone!

Pixel-san laughed, then they went their separate ways; Pixel-san for the Tim Hortons stand and Choko for her suite. Inside she found her niisan and neesan entertaining guests, and Honey-neesan waved her over, “Come on babydoll, you and Lottie were a match made in pink heaven!”

Choko smiled, completely content, and joined the group of happy people.

If she had seen the shadow lurking past the suite's window, she blamed it on the rainbow lights glowing overhead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 水飴 (mizuame): a Japanese sweetener similar to corn syrup
> 
> -kougo: an honorific referring to an empress; since Cathernilla's not a princess or a queen but even higher up, Choko is sure to use the correct honorific.
> 
> AND IT'S FINALLY DONE!1!1!
> 
> So let's talk chapter content.
> 
> The Cyberspace Mountain is a roller coaster building simulator. The Atomic Banshee is impossible to build at the actual DQ, but as stated, there's some leeway in the internal DQ. The part where they sing “A Whole New World” is based on me doing the same on roller coasters because why not.
> 
> Pixel, Aarun and Elysia are characters connected to my tumblr RP blog, choko-pockystix dot tumblr dot blah. Namely, it's Choko's friend Pixel, who's an anti-virus (a “traditional one” who's always working and is older than the Sugar Alice anti-virus, which was made by that Katarzyna chick), and the twins who are...it's a long story that's not important. Just know that it's a fond reference to one of my favorite tumblr buddies.
> 
> As for the recolor cabinet, it was just coded that way and became famous in the Sugar Rush fan community for its different characters. The OCs mentioned are also from my tumblr, and I propose a thing that explains why they exist:
> 
> There are four versions of the original Sugar Rush arcade cabinet. The 1-player Japanese, the 2-player North American and Euopean, and the 2-player International. The International version, able to be played anywhere, was released in veeeery limited amount and featured characters not in the “official” roster presented in Life in 16 Flavors.
> 
> This way, all OCs are canon, although this makes Minty Sakura a Choko Pockystix recolor. But since Minty Sakura kept flickering in and out of existence in the Japanese WiR, it has merit in my headcanon.
> 
> And finally...the big reveal of Sugar Rush: World Circuit. If you all read a throwaway line in Li16F or read the summary for this story's sequel, Through the Mirror Darkly, you already know that Litwak's SR is getting an upgrade. But this “custom made, limited edition” game is the whole reason why the next story exists at all...
> 
> But enough of that! I'm on winter break and hopefully I update again before the year ends, because we're heading into the DQ Damger plot with more people, more Skrelsie and more stuff! See you then!


	24. DisneyQuest Pt 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters save the day yet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...hi *runs away in shame
> 
> College happened, such as term papers and study abroad applications and general business, and I've been so uninspired to write that it's shameful. But after getting accepted into study abroad program, I remembered how fun it is to be happy and inspired and I sorta sat down and started writing?
> 
> Therefore, to be fair to everyone who cares about this story universe and the sequel to Action Replay, I am now going to cut AR 5 “extra” mission chapters shorter; this will technically be the climax of the story, which makes sense from a thematic point. But don't worry; this will not be the end of the Codebusters :)
> 
> So here, have this update and please don't burn my house down T3T
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own many things, why do you keep asking me this?

**Choko's POV**

* * *

Choko giggled as Lottie-san smacked Skrillex-niisan upside the head for being under confident with Elsie-san, and pondered the guests at her table. There were three in total: Lottie-san, from one of the experimental Disney games on the fifth floor; Viridi-chan from Kid Icarus: Uprising; and Classic Sonic-kun from the 3DS version of Sonic Generations.

Their story was one that filled the deep blue well in Choko's soul with endless theory. "Our previous owner," Viridi-chan drawled as she fixed her long blonde hair, "was a self-entitled brat who constantly abused his overly generous parents. Even when they dragged his unworthy behind to Walt Disney World he only complain and wore out the battery on his special edition 3DS."

She crossed her arms and huffed, "He even would steal other people's games if they left them out, and would throw his 3DS across the room in tantrums! Doesn't he know how terrifying that is for a game character?!"

Sonic-kun patted her shoulder in comfort and Viridi-chan bitterly smirked, "That was our downfall, actually. He was playing Lego Star Wars on Spaceship Earth, and when his mother told him to put his game away, he had another fit, flailed his arms...and threw us out of his car!"

Honey-neesan sputtered, "W-What happened to the 3DS?" Honestly, even Choko was shivering in horror because what kind of twisted monster would throw a hand-held game console into a dangerous environment? That little brat could've killed thousands of people!

"We landed somewhere off-limits to guests." Viridi-chan and Sonic-kun looked down at the shimmering glass tabletop, "Broke our screen to bits and ruined his chance of replacing it, but thankfully the computer wasn't too badly torn up...I mean, blue boy and I have been best buds since we first got turned on,and since we weren't being played, we could react. We got our data from the memory card, clipped it to my inventory and bailed to the external port to try and make a jump." She snorted, "As if we could actually jump across a threshold with no electricity, but eh, we were desperate.

"Lots of others escaped, like the people from my game and his game and Nintendogs and others... but yeah, we lost about 85% of the 3DS natives since the memory card broke and wiped their data." Viridi-chan shrugged, "This happened ages ago; the 3DS got picked up by an employee and was plugged in to see if it still worked, so us survivors jumped ship into the building mainframe, and ended up in DQ-Land.

"We all ended up separating to find our new fortunes, but Sonic and I stayed around on the fifth floor since we didn't want to just float around the Interweb; we met up with Lottie here and ever since then we've been crashing in her game."

Lottie-san waved her hand, "It's all good, honey! My game friends and I just couldn' leave youout in the pixel rain!" She turned to Choko and gushed, "You shoulda seen these two, lookin' all lost in the happiest place on earth! But from what Sonny tells me, you three were also all balled up in the processors."

Choko nodded as she blew her bangs out of her face, "We've been having an interesting week." Meeting the heiress of her game company, setting foot in an iTouch, dying but not really, building a roller coaster... Choko wanted her own book deal, or at least a fanfiction account.

Sonic-kun giggled about being overstuffed with Southern cooking until he and Viridi-chan were in a week-long food coma, and Skrillex-niisan rubbed the back of his neck, "So you guys live here now, huh? What's it like, as a not-DisneyQuest born person?"

"Welp, the games are great and varied, the inner architecture puts my old game to shame, there are dozens of satellite arcades we like to go hang out in, and the DQ programs are super nice, especially the ELA girls." Viridi-chan grinned, "The one girl you were dancing with is exceedingly friendly, what's her name again?"

And that led to everyone beating up Skrillex-niisan for being a bashful ninnymuggins, but Choko argued that at least he had the dango dumplings to actually dance with her. A random comment by Honey-neesan about taking Elsie-san on a romantic Ferris wheel run prompted a heated discussion about amusement rides in general; the great "to loop or not to loop" conundrum almost resulted in Honey-neesan kick flipping Lottie-san into the couch.

Thankfully she still had a wealth of cupcakes to soothe out any anger, and dawn rose bright and blue over them watching an archived The Little Mermaid and singing at the top of their lungs. Choko shrieked with laughter when Skrillex-niisan made an impromptu rap about Jamaican crabs and seaweed and Sonic-kun started break dancing to it. Honey-niisan, Viridi-chan and Lottie-san were being sassy back up singers and the morning sky held promises of more fun and Choko just felt truly and completely happy.

So when a gigantic, snarling spider beast crashed through their door and shrieked "ACTION REPLAY!", Choko's reaction of squeaking and shooting it with the random pocky Gatling gun she summoned via cheat code was totally acceptable and fitting in with the general theme of preserving happiness.

Pixel-san sprinted in with a gunblade, yelling at them to "HIDE!" and shooting at the gigantic creature that roared like a rampaging cybug but 10x as worse. They ducked behind the couch and witnesses an anti-virus at work: Pixel-san leaped onto the beast's back and drove her blade into his spine. Two tentaclesspewed in a flood of acidic green code from the stab wound, but she jumped down to swing the blade outwards and shoot the spider's eyes out.

The virus gurgled lowly in its punctured throat and keeled over, smashing the table to bits of glass and the rest of the shattered morning. She didn't let up, eyes glowing purple as she blasted the carcass into just a memory; the tentacles blindly groped around for her until they too went the way of the 8 bit wonders. Pixel-san was singed and bleeding and has a nasty acid burn on her knee, but she turned and smiled cheerfully at the cowering seven, "Good morning!"

Honey-neesan sniffled about the tragedies of ruined cupcakes, and Choko added this to the list of moments she was definitely going to cover on her fanfiction account.

* * *

DisneyQuest was home to various specialized programs, such as Elsie and the ELA programs, the MARI that were like super janitors, the JET who coordinated with the security software, the AMIS who ran everything behind the scenes, and the ION medical core.

Choko watched as a devastatingly handsome ION nurse named Ionelo-sama patched up Pixel-san's acid burn. If it wasn't for the fact that her hotel had just been assaulted by a gigantic spider beast and Pixel-san got hurt along with the unfortunate cupcakes, Choko would've been debating who was more かっこいい (kakkoii): Megaman-sama or Ionelo-sama.

"Ok, now stretch out your leg?" Ionelo-sama checked out the healing code patch he had added, and smiled with one dimple when Pixel-san didn't flinch or collapse in agony. "Alright, your leg should be on its way to a natural healing cycle. Try and not injure it again for 24 hours."

"Got it," Pixel-san yawned as she rolled off the examination table, "And thankfully that was the last virus of the night. Go tell the security programs around here to not let unsecured laptops join in the hotel wifis anymore, ok?"

Ionelo-sama shrugged since most of Disney World's resort patrons were kinda...dumb, but it was a good suggestion anyway. Pixel-san stretched out her back and smiled at Choko, "Sorry for breaking your table, I'll treat you all to a marshmallow party or something."

"大丈夫です、(Daijoubu desu)" Choko waved away the worries, "You saved our skins from being eaten by a virus, I think that's a good trade for the table." She turned to see her nakama getting ready to leave, and she hugged Pixel-san, "See you later, Pixel-san! Try and stay out of trouble, ne?"

Later on, Choko wished that she had told everyone in DisneyQuest that, because karma seemed ready to reap an equivalency out of her miracle not-death.

It happened while she was on the Ferris wheel with Honey-neesan, Lottie-san and Viridi-chan—or the Fun Wheel, if the ride's true name was to be used—and cheerfully screaming her head off whenever the gondolas made 360 degree loops on the glittering rails. She looked out the wired window to try and spot Skrillex-niisan laughing at them from below, and instead saw a chunk of lights by DisneyQuest's entrance turn off and black smoke rising from the elevator sockets.

A surge of ELA and MARI programs in blue and white ran to the elevators, and Choko could only gasp as more and more of those horrific spider beasts materialize. Suddenly the ride came to a stop and an alarm went off as a warning in a thousand languages directed,  _"Alert, alert, this is not a drill, evacuate immediately!"_

They left the ride with the rest of the crowd, Choko clinging to her neesan's arm for all it's worth. There was too much screaming, too much fear, they were all going to be attacked and not everyone was an anti-virus or had a weapon—

Honey-neesan rose up and yelled, "Follow the girls in blue, they know what to do!"And her voice was filled with cerulean power, making the people stop in awe before following her order like it was their prime directive. Choko shivered before her Action Replay pulsed in her soul, and she too began to direct with Honey-neesan and Skrillex-niisan. Follow the blue, it knew what to do, even in the darkness of the Void it would illuminate the way...

Elsie-san suddenly appeared and pulled them out of the crowd, "You, my dears, need to come with me."

They were taken to one of the Skyway ports, and Elsie-san opened a "Maintenance Only" shed door that revealed a stark white hallway. Down the narrow hall they entered a central hub, and Choko's breath was taken away. Thousands of various programs filtered between control screens, controlling every part of DisneyQuest's environment. Several satellite arcades were reporting viral outbreaks from their guest entrances as well, millions upon millions of lights flooding into safe zones and Choko began to see the magnitude of this potential disaster.

Elsie-san then directed them to the glowing rainbow-coded throne in the middle of the chaos, "Miss Amelia, you wished to see these three guests?"

The throne swiveled around to reveal a dignified older woman, white eyes calm with more experience than all of the Codebusters had together. "Welcome to the Hub, Ms. Pockystix, Ms. Cat, Mr. Moore." Amelia-san leaned forward, "Let's get down to business: earlier this morning, our Zielinska Antivirus Security Programs detected a large amount of viral entities just outside our firewall entrance. Normally this is no cause for alarm; this is DisneyQuest, many forms of malware would love to sink their teeth into our internet connections and guests.

"However, one slipped by, and focused upon a specific source of power: an Action Replay, or specifically, three Action Replays tied to three guests." Amelia-san folded her hands together, "While an off duty anti-virus guest managed to eliminate the threat, the virus sent out a signal to its cohorts and now an army is breaking into DisdnwyQuest and its satellite arcades. Their goal is to infect and kill as many guests and games as possible, as well as gut you three like a fishing game and steal your Action Replays."

Choko flinched and hid behind Skrillex-niisan, and Amelia-san sighed, "Now, obviously this is not your fault in any way; no one can be blamed for the insanity of malware. But as it stands, our entire network is under attack, and I was wondering if you three would like to volunteer to help purge the viral army." Amelia-san half smiled, "In the earliest days of DisneyQuest, I saw a young woman use a Game Genie to eliminate an anarchist uprising; she gave her life to save our fledgling network, and while I won't dare to ask you to do the same...some help would be appreciated."

The Codebusters looked at each other with wide eyes, then met Amelia-san's gaze in unified blue. "We are the Codebusters," Skrillex-niisan grinned, "We couldn't not help even if we tried."

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

The JET programs reported that the outbreaks in the satellite arcades were being contained, but the JET and Zielinska requested with increasing urgency for backup in DisneyQuest. The Codebusters changed into their jumpsuits, Honey tying her twintails extra tight, and they descended back into the chaos.

Even with the evacuation, millions of guests were trapped. The viral smoke had the wonderful effect of shorting out simple code sequences like "Open this door", or "Allow in people", so even the arcade game consoles were blocked off from the escaping guests. Honey narrowed her blue-violet eyes as a spider virus screeched and descended upon a group of crying Pikmin. "Oh hell no," she hissed as she catapulted herself forward, "Leave the babies alone, you monster!"

The virus was thrown against a wall, and the Pikim scattered as Honey dodged bursts of acids and grabby tentacles. One of the other viruses, a giant Trojan warrior with soulless eyes, swung at her head with a wickedly distorted sword and Honey knew that there was little hope of regenerating from that beast of a weapon. Summoning a bunch of rings, she flew into the air and kicked at their faces, slamming rings down to increase her attack power and obscure their vision. They roared in dismal minor chords and she growled right back in harmony, forcing them into a power line and punching a hole through the on switch.

They disintegrated in the flow of electricity, and Honey diverted the steam into the electric slide. The viruses trying to climb to higher levels through the slide met an unhappy death, and Honey was too busy looking at the spoils of her plan to see the size-shifting virus plow into her back.

She hollered, she kicked and spat but she was trapped under an over-muscled arm. Gasping for air, she subconsciously picked a cheat code to transform into her glitching mirror, and the virus froze in place along with her. Hissing under her broken breaths, Honey changed back to normal and grinned as she kicked off the virus's head, "Glitch power, mother—"

Honey squeaked when a large group of viruses spotted her, and marked both her Action Replay and her electricity happy fighting strategy. "ELIMINATE!"

A large crimson Loftwing suddenly landed on the group of viruses, crushing the puny viruses under its glorious wings. The Loftwing carried three Links—one Skyward Sword, One Ocarina and one Wind Waker—and the SS!Link blushed and apologized for nearly killing Honey with his super awesome flying bird of endless glory.

"Not at all," Honey yelled as she and WW!Link teamed up against one of the viruses, "I appreciate the help!" And she really wanted to ride the Loftwing into the swarm of viruses piling up over the Fun Wheel, but she figured that could wait later. She threw her diminutive partner up so he could pogo stick on the viruses with his Master Sword, and Honey kicked her way through the ribcage of a Hulk-like beast.

The Loftwing pecked out the eyes of a virus that wanted to kill its owner, and Honey asked, "So, are you three here for business or pleasure?" Pleasure; they were all from the same Wii U from New York City, intending on having a nice vacation while their owner was going to summer camp. Honey grinned as all three synched together and filled a couple of viruses with arrows, "Certainly beats sleeping in all day!"

WW!Link giggled and saved her from a Trojan sword swing, and Honey briefly wondered what he would look like in a jumpsuit before going to go save a group of civilians from a bloodthirsty bastard. Apparently, that proved Honey's worth to the Loftwing, because when the viral swarm overtook the Fun Wheel and spilled into the World of Color Palette bay, it offered its wing to her.

Honey squealed, and with the rest of her blonde friends flew into the violence-changed air like the world's happiest harbinger of chaos.

* * *

There were quite a few warriors battling against the viruses. Nymphs in blue and pink robes glided through the fighting with the grace that all Zielinksa Sugar Alice/Crystal Jane Antivirus Software were programmed with, contrasting against the chunky glamor that video game characters fought with. Yes, Honey was back to back with WW!Link and Bayonetta, and she could see Skrillex in the company of Captain Falcon and Choko teaming up with a few other magical girls. And were it not for the real threat poses by the viruses—Honey had to stop and carry too many dying civilians to the ION core for her tastes—this would've been awesome.

But then again, this was also war.

Choko ducked as a virus was blown over her head, raising her hands to akido flip a charging virus into a growing fire pit. That was awesome and made Honey cheer, and Choko turned to smile and wave at her older sister. Her brown-blue eyes were filled with cheer...and they slow widened as as a gigantic black worm with a horrific glitching face twisted out of the virus's body. "...eh?"

The worm grinned at her before opening a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, and Honey only had a second to scream before her little sister's head was bitten off.

Everything froze as the clamor became background static and the world was thrown off its axis. Honey rushed forward, catching Choko's body before it could fall, and she was missing a head, her head was no longer present and who knew such a tiny body could hold so much chocolate syrup? Honey couldn't scream, because that would make it real, and summoned duct tape from her inventory to try and stop the bleeding.

It didn't stick because duct tape was not a good bandaid and Honey remembered that oh yeah, what was the point of band aids when someone's head got bitten off? The head had to go on first! She looked to her left to see Skrillex systemically blasting the virus worm to kingdom come. Not even the Void would be able to contain the scattered viral coding, nor the unending fury in his infinite blue eyes, and Honey shook Choko's body, "Wake up baby doll, before your niisan gets himself killed."

The body glitched, and suddenly disappeared, leading only Choko's Action Replay in Honey's hands. The little cheat cartridge filled the chocolate saturated air with blue and pink sparkles, before Choko regenerated with her body not missing vital components like her head. She blinked and looked down at her hands, before blurting out to Honey, "I think I just learned how to fly?"

Honey crushed Choko to her chest, never again doubting the potential of the reality warper in her inventory. Skrillex got his ass beat into a pancake and was thrown into a wall above their heads, and Honey grinned with sharp white teeth, "Up and at 'em, Sonny boy; if Little Miss over here can walk off a decapitation," Choko giggled and ran off to help Sailor Jupiter and Mami Tomoe conquer a group of viruses antagonizing a Toad squad, "then we can keep our heads firmly on our shoulders."

Skrillex jumped down into her arms, patched up his once-again broken nose, and led her over to Captain Falcon who really wanted to see what would happen if they punched a Hulk virus at the same time. It turns out that the wireframe of the Hulk, while stronger than that of the spider virus, couldn't handle their dual attack, and Honey reminded herself that yeah, war was hell but battles were up a fighting game character's alley.

* * *

Honey thrashed her way into Cyberspace Mountain, helping Bill Nye the Coaster Guy firmly eject viruses out of his domain into the unfeeling death of a black hole. Jumping into a booth, Honey opened up a new coaster building project and Bill said, "Just a strange time to be building a coaster, don't you think?"

"It's always coaster time, Mr. Nye," Honey looked out the booth to see the viruses attack plugged in games, and she asked, "Can I mod your game a teensy bit?"

"What kind of mod?"

"Adding bazookas, flamethrowers, unlimited speed boosters, that sort of thing."

A virus crashed through the roof, a war painted Animal Crossing villager girl roaring for blood, and Bill Nye shrugged, "It wouldn't be the most shocking thing I've seen today."

The villager girl helped Honey build the Jolly Trolley, a sweet pink coaster that was equipped with more firepower than a Call of Duty expansion pack. Considering how a COD soldier and Captain America dropped in to help create a good coaster flight path with consideration of the weapons' ranges, Honey figured that wasn't entirely untrue.

They rolled out the Jolly Trolley into the air above DisneyQuest, and Captain America took the reigns. "Sargeant Davies, man the bazookas. Miss Villager, fire away at the swarm of viruses pressed against the racing games every time we make a circuit. Codebuster, I think you're needed down below."

Honey nodded, but decided to stick around for at least the first circuit; the image of the viruses screaming and retreating away from the bow-covered Jolly Trolley was too good to pass up. She jumped out into a ten story bounce house filled with 80s punch out and ninja type characters using the jumping leverage to defeat spider viruses, and cartwheel kicked a virus into a pool below.

Alas, the virus had a lance and speared her through the gut before yanking out the stuff she needed to be inside her stomach. She collapsed into the pool, regretted not swimming it earlier, and died.

When someone died, and their game was an Action Replay, they fell into blue stars. Honey tumbled through knowledge that tasted like the future and yeah, she thought she knew how to fly now too, how neat. And she was pulled out of the stars with her regeneration, eyes focusing on a crying Toadette beating viruses away from Honey's body with a stolen Trojan sword.

Honey smiled, fixed her headband, and helped the little Toadette kill at the nasty bastards. So many people seemed suited for jumpsuits and their own Action Replays, and Honey wanted to share. But before she could share, she needed to save DisneyQuest, and show the viruses what kind of trouble they were in for daring to come and steal away Honey's precious cartridge.

* * *

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

Skrillex died a painful death after getting eaten by a spider virus. He had to choose between himself or a group of crying child racers, and they didn't know how to end one's life before a viral infection could take hold. He came back with an idea of turning the WoCP Display into something a bit more awesome and got the girls into a safe zone. One of them, a delicate gray skinned boy who looked nothing at all like the Turbo boogeyman of Liwatka's Arcade, decided to go with him and join the cause.

The boy—his name was Junior, he came from a TurboTime: Nytro City arcade console in Berlin—plowed through the viruses in his souped up cart as if they were minor speed bumps, and Skrillex smashed hardier viruses across the face with a guitar he borrowed from a Guitar Hero character. He probably looked ridiculous, his hair getting all tangled and his glasses cracked from getting punched in the face yet again, but it gave some of the fighters something to rally behind.

Junior braked about 5 inches away from the edge of the WOCP bay, and Skrillex pointed, "You see those three racers doing wheelies across that horde of spider viruses?"

"Ja?"

"They said that they're from the greater Berlin area, and I'm pretty sure you could show them a thing or two in your cart."

Junior grinned before racing off to join his comrades, and Skrillex dove into the water. Below the dark blue waves were scattered virus fragments, dead JET programs and the machinery needed to do the nighttime water show. Cheating in order to not need air, he swam down and started altering the machinery's purpose; why not iridescent fire instead of water, why not release viral alert codes to lure in enemies, why not have it explode through the Fun Wheel instead of just in front of it?

A Trojan crashed into the water, having been gored in the chest by a pissed off Rainbow Dash, and Skrillex neatly stole the codes needed to make a convincing virus beacon. Down in the deep, it was surprising how it managed to be both eerily still and deeply chaotic; Skrillex could hear the music of battle thrum bass lines through the water, and his inner musician desired to make a brostep remix of power.

Choko fell into the water, a spider virus strangling her with evil tentacles, and Skrillex swam up to gouge out the virus's eyes. It hissed and choked in the water, and Choko stabbed Pixel's gunblade into its cranium. It sputtered and died in the water, and they swam to the surface, gulping in air. "She let you borrow that?!"

"I told her that I'd go take a scary dangerous bazooka from the Jolly Trolley unless she gave me a weapon she trusted."

"Nice." They looked up to see the Jolly Trolley fire away at a viral swarm, and Skrillex directed, "Tell the ELA girls to not send people this way; I'm going to make a lot of fun things happen."

"Like what?"

They turned to see Elsie in her tunic dress and a lazer-edged sword, covered in sweat and scratched and virus ooze and utterly radiant. She helped them out of the water, hands callous free despite the sword, and she tilted her head, "Are you going to cause an international incident, Mr. Skrillex?"

"N-Nothing worse than what's already happening, Ms. Elsie." Choko let out a mighty warrior princess cry and tackled a pint sized virus, and Skrillex dredged up the confidence he got blessed with last night. "Seriously though, I'm going to turn the World of Color Palette into a virus beacon—it worked at my arcade the last time there was an infestation, so it could work now."

Elsie smiled and it filled Skrillex with a deep sense of serenity, "I understand. Just...stay safe, ok?"

He squeezed her hands before letting her turn and cut a charging Hulk down to size, "As you wish."

* * *

It took a while to get Executive Plan Brostep in motion, because there was just a lot of viruses to beat down. They multiplied and spread like the plague, overwhelming even the seasoned anti-viruses. Skrillex carried a Crystal Jane to that Ionelo guy, seeing milky white code leak from her torn off leg, and shuddered at the viruses' game plan.

If they got an Action Replay, it was game over. There was literally no telling of the possibilities that malware could reach with something that could cheat around deletion and death.

He turned to the pavilion in front of the Fun Wheel and WoCP bay, and was struck by the world clock in the sky. It was 5 pm; the human gamers had been playing in DisneyQuest without a hitch despite the disaster blooming under the electronic surface, characters playing their parts despite the viral flames licking at the sockets. That's what his home arcade was doing, playing onwards despite losing three people, and wasn't that the most wonderful thing?

Skrillex wiped his eyes and cleaned his glasses; if she wanted the gamers to keep on gaming and for him to go home at the end of the week, he needed to get his act together. He could see Honey leading a large group of characters against a viral swarm, and Choko guiding ION medics to centers of hurt. They were working, they were fighting, they were his loved ones and Skrillex refused to let them down.

A Trojan dashed towards him but a blue blur knocked him back, and floral magic ripped through the air as Viridi and Sonic teamed together for yet another battle. Skrillex watched them go aid a Rosalina and her Lumas, happy that

He pushed his way through a crowd of civilians to an ELA girl, whose white hair was stained with virus goop and claymore dripping with malware. He called out, "I am in need of assistance!"

"One moment!" The ELA teamed with with a squadron of other ELAs, Elsie tying a patch of gauze to her thigh with duct tape, and killed the viruses that were mad-dogging towards Skrillex. Surrounding him, the ELA chirped, "I'm Helsette; how may I be of assistance?"

"I need to trigger the World of Color Palette show right now, and wipe out the swarm before things get even worse!"

Helsette and Elsie pushed him down so he wouldn't get killed; he saw a JET boy riddle a virus with bolts, nearly getting himself killed with his single-minded determination to help. But he was fine, all of them were fine, and Elsie grabbed onto Skrillex's hand, "Follow me!"

The ELAs escorted him like a guest of honor, hacking their way to the control booth hidden beneath the Fun Wheel's base. As the Fun Wheel had been overtaken by viruses, rainbow chrome tarnished and rotting, Skrillex and Elsie had to break away to allow the ELAs to evacuate the weakening safety zones. Elsie kicked in the hub door, and the two fell down to a silent room where alert lights illuminated the dead viruses and dead AMIS programs.

Elsie gasped and Skrillex draped a tattered jacket over the AMIS's face. He worried that she might freeze up, as the damage was rather gory, but her blue eyes hardened and she held her head high. "I'm no AMIS, but I do know what buttons to press." She kicked a virus out of the control panel's chair and logged in her credentials, the screens coming to life. "So you just want it to play as usual?"

"Are there other options?" He leaned over her shoulder, seeing where the explosions would erupt from the water. "Like, are there bigger productions that can be played?"

"Let's see...ah, there's the Summer Solstice Celebration show set; it's a little early for that, but all of these pipes," Elsie showed how everywhere in DisneyQuest there would be glorious flames, "would go off. Why?"

"Excellent." Skrillex turned Elsie so he could speak to her directly, "I need everyone out. Civilians, fighters, DisneyQuest programs, everyone that won't regenerate. Once you do that, tell me so I can set everything off."

She nodded, but then hesitated, "What will you do? Take shelter in here?"

Skrillex grimaced, "I might have to be in the middle of it to make sure that everything goes off as planned."

"No!" She stood up and even though she was taller than him, she seemed so very fragile. "You're going to get yourself killed! I-If you're planning on making explosions or fire or whatever else, you—"

He hugged her, forehead against her shoulder, and felt her collapsed into his embrace. "You're not scared are you?"

She laughed and the bell toned cracked, "My home has been invaded, my friends are hurt and dying, I don't know what will happen to the guests and I'm afraid that you're going to die. Please don't die, I don't..." Elsie murmured against his hair, "I like you, you seem like the type who doesn't go around breaking girls' hearts."

Skrillex exhaled, before pulling back to smile, "Tell that to my ex." Elsie's bell laughter soothed his own lingering fears and it gave him the strength needed to say, "Once everyone is safe, meet me back here and I'll show you why it won't be so easy to get rid of me."

She smiled and squeezed his shoulders before running off, and Skrillex sank into the blue stars staining his peripheral, absorbing every code necessary for the upcoming show.

* * *

Elsie came back an hour later, covered in blood but grinning that the Jolly Trolley had finished her final circuit and that everyone was accounted for. Honey passed on her regards, specifically that "If you get us kicked out I'm going to shove a blue shell up your ass."

Skrillex mumbled that no one was going to kick them out as long as Honey wasn't lazy and didn't want to clean up afterward, then brought Elsie to the audience stage in front of the WoCP bay. With the absence of fighters, the viruses were now swarming out of control, topping the inner structures of DisneyQuest and threatening to break into the quarantined games.

The air vibrated of death, and Skrillex held onto Elsie's hand, "Let's drop the base then."

He snapped his free fingers, and the show started up. The viruses were attracted to the viral alert signals embedded seamlessly into the music, and pretty water fountains splayed the rainbow across the twisted Fun Wheel. The fountains swiveled to the beat of increasingly frenetic music, the colors distorting, and the viruses swarmed into the water.

The music dipped low into sinister chords, and Elsie looked ready to run, but as the music began to crescendo with the levels of water, Skrillex grabbed her close, pulled up a shield, and yelled, "Here's the bass drop!"

And everything exploded.

Fire in a thousand spectrums of color gushed over all of DisneyQuest, modified by the sneaky little codes hidden in Skrillex's Action Replay. They were keyed to everything with more than thirteen directives, sparing immobile structures and simple things such as the WoCP itself. And with data stolen from Pixel's gunblade and the Crystal Jane's antiviral blood, the fire scorched and purged the viruses without pause.

The music playing was as loud and chaotic as he could mix from DisneyQuest's soundtrack, and maybe he was stepping on a lot of copyrights, but everything was fair in love and brostep. The viruses scrambled and writhed and were exterminated like vermin, and rainbows glittered in Elsie's hair and earrings as she watched with wide eyes.

Skrillex watched her, aching to do something as dramatic as the flames blowing around their shield, but then she whispered, "It's beautiful."

She turned to face him, face filled with the same wonder that Skrillex held when he first walked into DisneyQuest, "You do stuff like this all the time?" His tongue was stuck and he could only nod, and Elsie shook her head, "This is amazing...you are amazing."

And he could smell the lingering notes of her apple perfume, and her hands trailed up his arms past the scars and the shakes up to his neck, and kissing Elsie was like being reborn again.

* * *

Skrillex surveyed the group assembled in front of them. They were in front of the rebuilt WoCP audience stage, freshly patched up by the ION core and decidedly not burnt to death. The minor fire damage had been worth the entire viral army being eradicated, and the JET/antivirus assault teams had purged the rest of the enemies. The gamers were blissfully unaware of the chaos waged from the pother side of the screen, and Amelia herself had thanked the Codebusters for their help.

Most of the guests were in their hotel rooms, sleeping off the day's horror, except for the assembled character who were looking at Skrillex, Honey and Choko with eyes filled with awe. After all, who else but these three had the Action Replays the viral attack so desperately craved, along with the skills needed to wield those magic cartridges for great code manipulating justice? They were practically gods to the ground, and Skrillex saw Choko blush at all of her well-earned admiration.

He recognized a few faces in the crowd, like Viridi and Sonic, Junior and the German racers, Mami Tomoe and the Sailor Scouts, the three Links and their Loftwing, Captain America, Captain Falcon, Rosalina and a slew of Toadettes and Lumas, and dozens upon dozens of more. The pairings in the group weren't equal, with some in pairs or quartets or even alone, but all of them were linked together in having saved DisneyQuest. All of them were brave and foolish and crafty and just plain ballsy, and he shared a final deciding nod between Honey and Choko.

"I've called you all here at this lovely 3am hour because all of you helped save this arcade complex from the viral invasion despite not being either anti-viruses, DisneyQuest programs, or anything but what you are: game characters who decided to take a stand and help out. Thankfully no one died otherwise this would be a very different speech, but since you all battled and lived to tell about it, we're going to let you in on our little secret.

"I'm sure you're all wondering about this?" He held up his Action Replay, and the group's breath hitched together. "My companions and I have been in possession of these for almost a year now, and we've been using them to fix glitches and programming errors back in our arcade. And apparently, even a viral apocalypse can be stopped with a bit of sneaky cheating.

"You've seen all the wonderfully fun things we can do with this...and that's why," Skrillex smiled as the deep blue well in his soul pulsed, "I'm offering you all the chance to join our group, the Codebusters."

Everyone rose to their feet in excitement, yelling out their assent, and the original Red Core could already pick out the different cores between them, stretching all over the video game world to save the day. Pixel and a few other anti-viruses whistled in the back, and Elsie gave Skrillex a smile that made his heart sing. This was going to change everything, and Skrillex couldn't wait to see it begin.

"Since you're all interested," the Codebusters spoke to their new juniors, eyes in unison glowing blue, "The first thing you have to know about being a Codebuster is understanding the concept of a cheat console..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> かっこいい (kakkoii): cool, handsome, basically every little girl's dream of the ultimate guy
> 
> 大丈夫です(Daijoubu desu): “It's ok”, “It's alright”, “No worries”, etc.


	25. The Internet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the Codebusters take a road trip back to Litwak's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case I was unclear: This is the last “real” chapter of Action Replay; the next chapter is an epilogue to segue into this story's sequel.
> 
> So enjoy your fill of Choko, since she and her marvelous Codebusters are going to bid you all adieu soon lol
> 
> Disclaimer: Why must you taunt me with the knowledge that I don't own anything??

**Skrillex's POV**

* * *

The rest of their vacation went swimmingly.

Amelia didn't throw them out—she voided all of their fees and gave them eternal passes to DisneyQuest and its satellite arcade passes, as was due to the three losers who kinda helped save the day. Honey had sputtered and Choko had blushed and Skrillex didn't know what to say because wow, they hardly charged anything for Codebuster duty, this was incredible.

They used those passes and its discounts for great justice. There were dozens of satellite arcades to go visit, which meant hundreds of shopping trips, dessert runs, and clubbing, so much clubbing to quiet bass-heavy holes in the walls and giant crowded festivals that even Choko could go to.

Lots of others came with them on their adventures, like Viridi, Sonic and Lottie, and Mami, Junior and Wind Waker Link, and dozens of others. The Codebusters were still finalizing who would be part of which core—thank goodness the heroic bastards tended to be clustered from the same arcade or console network—and by hanging out with them, Skrillex got a better feel of who his juniors were, and how awesome they were.

Havok Engine above, he was helping found a new era and it was so exciting. He would look at Honey and Choko showing wide-eyed juniors how to bend reality to their cheat codes,

And then there was Elsie. Skrillex had dated Judy before, but those were hot tempered things in a relationship that quickly burned out. This was different, sweeter and more hesitant and he thought he'd never be able to get over how beautiful she was, even when covered in sweat and grime and surrounded by iridescent fire.

She loved fruit smoothies with boba and peanut butter cups, using the electric slide to get around instead of the crowded walkways, melodramatic Korean soap operas, nail art, and everything Disney. She had a deep well of patience that was easily emptied by parents being cruel to their children, judged people on whether or not they asked for help and how gracious they were while they asked. She didn't care for Breakin' A Sweat but listened to Summit whenever it came on Pandora, got cold when she was angry and hot when she was frustrated, and most of all, thought that Skrillex was an idiot for letting his thing with his ex drag on for so long.

Basically, he was falling head over heelies for her and judging by her fluttering pulse whenever he kissed her, Elsie felt the same way. It was like one of those fairy tale romances that Choko swore by with enough differences for Honey to approve, and Skrillex didn't really want to leave at the end of the week. He wanted to stay here, with Elsie and lead the Codebuster cores from a hub that glowed with bright blue light.

But the end did come, after long hours of play and coordination and dates. He missed his humble DJ Hero 2 and the people in his arcade, he missed the Red core and Joel and the other DJs and little Queen Vanellope. It was Saturday midnight, their time was up, and he filled with inventory with all the "please forgive me for making you think that I've been dead" gifts he could afford.

With one last run for hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls, the three had to leave.

He, Honey and Choko stood at a connection port to one of Disney World's wifi terminals, and they posed for yet another picture by Trolmir Fandov. The "Heroes of DisneyQuest", he called them, "and the World's Greatest Codemasters". Choko blushed and Honey held up a V for victory and Skrillex shrugged off the fame because that was just what they did.

Once Trolmir was gone, a bullet train arrived to take them to the Internet. Skrillex turned to Elsie and held her delicate world-changing hands, "This isn't goodbye."

"I know," she smiled past the wetness of her perfect blue eyes, and she pulled out a notepad, "Give this," a note covered in her flowing script, "to the helper at the terminal. She'll set you up with a good connection path back to your arcade..." Elsie then handed him another note, "And this is my number; Skype me sometime, pretty boy."

He kissed her one last time because he didn't know when he was going to see her again, and his sisters started singing that Owl City song and he and Elsie laughed against each others' lips. She escorted them onto the train, hugged him close, and then the door was between them and she was waving goodbye. Skrillex held her notes close to his chest to soothe ache, and watched her disappear into the tunnel.

He must've looked depressing, because Choko hugged him around the middle and chirped, "Don't look so sad, niisan! We can come visit Elsie-san after we go home and tell everyone that we're not dead!"

Home. He liked home. The train came to a swift stop and they entered what looked like an airport terminal, the windows illuminated with...their breaths were stolen by the lights. Rainbow spectrums glowed from behind the glass, color and static clouds of Internet activity and trending searches disrupted by what looked like endless arrays of pathways and...flying tubes?

One of the people milling through the terminal smiled and walked up, "First time travelers?"

"Yeah..." He handed her Elsie's note,"We need to go to this IP address?"

The helper read it, then herded them to one of the disembarking booths. She entered a series of numbers onto a computer and Skrillex would've paid more attention had he not been so captivated by the auroras and nebulae glittering just beyond his touch. So that was the Internet, biger and brighter than he even he understood. Choko pressed her hands to the glass and he didn't know if her eyes were turning blue or just illuminated by the great beyond, and Skrillex suddenly wanted to explore endlessly through the colors with Choko and Honey until the Internet ceased to be.

But first, home. The helper looked at them, then grinned, "Normally for business I'd just send you three home on a boom tube-" at that moment, someone took off in a tube and rocketed through the color clouds "-but something tells me you'd be better off driving there on a main data highway. Do you three have transportation?"

Skrillex and Honey looked to Choko, who nodded, "I think I can summon the Codemobile from my inventory."

"Great," the helper printed out a page of directions and gave it to Skrillex, "Follow this and you should be at your destination by the day's end. Have fun, and stay away from the Deep Web; that's an ocean you'll never swim out of."

The disembarking doors opened, and with joined hands they walked out of the wifi port down a hallway to an entrance to the Internet. Boom tubes flew over their heads and an iridescent road appeared beneath their feet once they hit the "ground". The Codemobile was summoned, the three sighing with relief at the familiar comforts, and Choko asked as she revved the engines, "Where to, Sonny-niisan?"

Skrillex looked at the directions; it simply said "Follow the road." He grinned, then leaned back as Choko started down the path into the sea of colors, "Back home, baby doll."

* * *

**Honey's POV**

* * *

Honey had never been on a road trip before.

Their misadventure in the iTouch didn't count, DisneyQuest was a resort stay, and for all her times in the Codemobile, that was for death defying missions. So as Skrillex rigged the radio to play OC Remixes and Choko oohed and aahed at millions of boom tubes and other travelers and light speed connections going on around them, Honey felt a surge of joy.

This is what she had craved when she'd been cursed to be a glitch—freedom, going 99 down an endless speedway with her loved ones by her side and 360 degree color to make up for the darkness of the Void.

Beaming to the technicolor sky, Honey looked out the edge and saw numerous little portals of light flash by; where those other entrances in and out of wifi connections? What were in them? Possessed by overwhelming curiosity, Honey asked, "Can we make a quick stop?"

"What for?" But even Choko's question was tainted by curiosity—what was a road trip through somewhere new and exciting without stopping to actually see what the Internet offered. There were highway signs indicating the different servers and wifi ports that were hidden in the Internet's glory,and Choko hesistated, "Shouldn't we drive back home immediately?"

The path branched into those alternate connections, and Skrillex grinned, "With you driving, we'll be home in no time. And considering that Vanellope is probably going to kill us when we go home,we might as well see the Internet instead of coast through it, right?"

"Exactly what I was thinking, Sonny boy," Honey looked up and read one of the highway signs, "'Mad Hatasmic' server entry for Team Fortress 2 on our next left." Honey blinked, "I've never been in there, let's go see."

Choko took a detour into Team Fortress 2, and into the first grand adventure in their road trip.

* * *

"What country you from," Honey roared as she gunned down some nerd's team with a machine gun, "And do they have hats there?!"

"W-What?"

Choko was wearing as many ridiculous frilly hats that her head could support, and blew up an entire building with enough dakka to overload a COD server. "What isn't a country I've ever heard of before!"

Skrillex was wearing his Mad Hatter tophat with fifteen grenade pins in the sash, "Do they have hats in What?"

"W-What?!"

"Hats, motherlover, do you have any?!"

They eventually got booted from the server because apparently it was bad form to kill people over something as stupid as hats. Choko grinned as they drove away from TF2, "I kept one~!"

And it was a glorious Triboniophorus Tyrannus/little squid thing which sat neatly atop her bun, Honey was proud of her little sister's fashion sense.

* * *

"Is that Super Smash Bros?" Choko slowed down from her sub-sonic coasting, interested in what the signs were telling her.

Skrillex peered up at the sign and nodded, "Yep; we ought to go there, Captain Falcon was talking about rumors of Nintendo shutting down the Wii's wifi either at the end of this year or in 2014."

Dammit Nintendo, another point for SEGA in Honey's books...or not really, since SEGA died out of first party development. Choko pulled into the portal and Honey watched as Metaknight flew Meta Ridely over a growing explosion. "My mod, we're never going to leave again, are we?"

It took a while to fight their way back out, Skrillex's glasses broken and Choko missing a tooth and Honey discovering that her Final Smash was bringing down the Chaos-damned Death Egg on everyone's heads.

The Sonic in this game was kinda cute too, but as Choko drove them out, Honey felt pride in the fact that half of her inventory's bounty was for her Sonic and her Sonic alone.

* * *

"Azalea's Dolls!"

"OC Remix!"

"Azalea's Dolls!"

"OC Remix!"

"If you two don't shut up right now, we're going to the next Manifesteange Metamorphose temps de fille online store and I will force you guys to help me try on every dress they offer!"

"I suddenly want to go wherever you're going Sonny darling, have any ideas?"

"None at all Honey face, the choice is yours."

* * *

Honey giggled as Choko and Skrillex slipped on the frozen pond and fell flat on their faces. Honey had spent the first few days of her post-glitch life frantically running around, so mere objects such as frictionless ice were no match for her feet. And since Club Penguin was a frozen wonderland, this was not the first time she skated along ahead of her flailing siblings, nor the last.

Spinning around like an Olympic skater, she back tracked to help the two to their feet, then skated directly into a blockade of dancing penguins. "What the-" Honey's eyes widened as they began to speak, and she groaned, "Great I found the 13 year olds on this server."

"Eh? どうした？(Doushita?)" Choko carefully toddled up but Honey covered her eyes from the marvelously decorated blockade. "Is it E-rated?

Skrillex looked at it before face palming his bright red nose, "Nope, and someone's gonna get in trouble."

Honey snapped her fingers and the giant array of dancing penguin swastika bots singing "}{41|_ }{17|_3R" were wiped from the landscape. At least they mixed it up and brought in some leet, it was always good to see variation in stupid teenage boys.

* * *

Honey lost track of all the games they stopped by, and time meant little to the perpetual lights that blended in the Codemobile's headlights. The only stillness the three encountered was at an edge of the Deep Web.

It was a obsidian-colored lake, a random sinkhole in the heights of the Internet, and it smelled ancient. Choko slowed down by the lake's glassy shores so they could step out and peer in, and Skrillex skipped a chunk of pixels across the surface; it skipped five times before sinking in and Honey knew that it wasn't coming out again.

Choko seemed to fold in on herself, and Honey pulled her away from the Deep Web. "Do you think anyone lives down there?"

"People who live in places that are unliked to the Surface Web we're currently standing in." Skrillex counted on his fingers, "They live and work in like...the Silk Road, or Tor, or the Hidden Wiki." He narrowed his eyes, "Some places are totally innocent, like private connections and deactivated blogs that shelter people who live down there...but there are a bunch of places you are absolutely forbidden from going to."

"なぜ？(Naze?)"

"Because you're our little sister now," Honey glared into the depths, "And I don't think the people down there would appreciate us burning the Deep Web to the ground if you got exposed to the sickos down there."

Choko quickly drove them away from the lake, and Honey bid it a heartless farewell; call her mainstream, but she preferred the glowing lights on their iridescent road than whatever beckoned below.

* * *

"I'm An OP Glitch" rang out from the stereo, and all three wore oversized sunglasses. Not a word needed to be said due to the majesty of their swagger. Not even characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean games could match the amount of swagger they were radiating.

Choko then gasped, "Is that an online Starbucks?!"

They squealed and nearly crashed into a few other travelers in their quest for overpriced coffee goodness.

With cups marked as "Sailor Ceres", "Twipz" and "Dreamcast Darling", they rode on into the storm of colors and connectivity, leaving behind trails of dango dust and pure swag.

* * *

Choko scrunched up her nose like a rabbit at the sight of their busted tired, and Honey soothed, "Don't worry, we're almost there." They had been driving and exploring all day, and Honey felt both nervous and giddy at the idea that they were just another jump away from home.

"I know, I just hate resetting pieces of my car, it screws up the speed and sugar levels." They had to wait for 15 minutes until the Codemobile was to Choko's standards, and sat down on the roof to watch everything else fly by. A mighty metropolis of a console network was thrumming behind them, lights glittering in the gauzy pink and blue sky, and Choko sighed, "I do like the view though."

"We should come back," Skrillex was folding and refolding the note that held Elsie's number, "Just take off one day—with permission of course, Suri is going to skin me alive once we get home—and explore."

Honey smiled at the idea, waving to the boom tubes and other travelers making their way across the Internet. Just her, Choko and Skrilly, making good time into tomorrow, she might even bring her Sonic, Elsie and whatever boy Choko finally got around to holding hands with too.

And since they were kinda starting a big Codebuster expansion pak, they would have to travel all over the world, because the Green Core was from Germany and the Silver Core from Brazil and the Pink Core from Osaka, and dozens of more in the pink and blue spaces in between. Honey imagined all the games they could go to from the Internet alone, let mega arcades like DQ and Tobikomi GiGo, and let alone little homes with the hand held consoles and single-platform cities where endless promise laid untapped.

Choko read the throughs flitting across Honey's face, and grinned, "We're going to be traveling a lot now, aren't we neesan?"

Honey slung an arm around Choko and Skrillex, "You bet your bun we will."

Their road trip was just beginning, and as they started back up to the final stretch to Litwak's, Honey couldn't wait for what was ahead.

* * *

**Choko's POV**

* * *

The iridescent road ended and they were at the wifi port of their home's computer room. Choko shook as she banished her Codemobile and fixed her hat. They were home, after so long and so much adventure they were home and what were they supposed to do now?

Honey-neesan looked ready to explode, and Choko hoped that C. Sonic-kun was alive and well since he was about to get the kiss of his life. Skrillex-niisan fiddled with his glasses, guilt allover his features, and Choko grabbed onto both of their hands. "Are you guys ready, mina-san?"

They nodded, and they walked up the steps into the terminal.

The people present froze as if captured in an ice cream storm, and Choko winced when some looked close to tears. Clearing her throat, she weakly greeted, "こんばんは？(Konbanwa?)"

Roll-chan broke through the crowd, blue irises tiny pinpricks in her eyes, before shrieking, "CHOKO!"

And then people were surging forward, pulling the three into the Computer room where everyone dropped what they were doing and screamed for the Codebusters who had cheated death. Choko was being hugged by Roll-chan and Mee-Mee-chan and her other sleepover friends, being cried on and yelled and and thanked over and over for being alive, and she smiled past the burning in her eyes.

Her poor loved ones, spending 5 days in hell because of a stupid series of events. She hugged back as hard as she dared, breathing in their familiar scents and grounding herself in home instead of in DisneyQuest or the Internet or at the heart of her Action Replay—

She gasped, before yelling at her siblings, "We need to add ourselves back into our games!" Even though a traitorous part of her demanded that she stay within the realm of glowing glass and endless blue stars, Choko missed her old Sugar Rush, missed her friends and the candied sakura trees and racing, she missed racing something fierce.

Skrillex-niisan was currently being crushed by a sobbing Sora-kun, and he weakly nodded, "Sora, I love you, but can you please take me home before the wine and dine?" Sora-kun laughed and carried him towards the arcade console room, Choko getting the same treatment with her friends and Honey-neesan getting dragged by C. Amy-chan who was babbling about C. Sonic-kun and how he was going to be so happy.

So happy, Choko was so happy to be back home, and when they flooded GCS with cries of "Look who is back," Choko met Vanellope-heika's shocked gaze, and cried along with her, bleeding away the very last of her adventure's tension and shame.

* * *

Choko floated in her game's code well, holding the cluster of programming that compromised her entire being. Her return to Sugar Rush had been rushed—Vanellope-heika had seen the empty space where Choko's coding had been, and agreed that the sooner she poured herself back to where she belonged, the better. And she was amassing an impromptu party at Mount Pockyama; everyone would be there from all three rooms, even Megaman-sama missed her during the week, and they were going to celebrate the Red Core's return home.

So why did she hesitate?

She remembered how her friends had wept for her, how Skrillex-niisan's friends had yelled for him, how Honey-neesan—oh Glico above, poor C. Sonic-kun! His gray eyes had been devoid of life in the second before he saw his soul mate, and watching them fill with surprise, suspicion, fear, delicate hope and finally joy beyond words...Choko cried even harder at the sight. She cried because she'd never find someone like that, never feel the same emotions that shone from her neesan when she hugged her beloved, never anything like that because she was young and fell in love with whomever passed her by.

She cried because she was so happy that they were together again, that Honey-neesan could show C. Sonic-kun all the wonderful things she'd gotten for him and tell him about all the marvelous things they'd done. She cried because they were finally home and she was going to tell her racers about their future sequel and they were home, they were home, Choko was home and she  _desired._

She wanted a soul mate, she wanted to race, and she never wanted to make her loved ones believe that she was dead ever again. The memory of a virus biting off her head made her shudder, and she knew that if put herself back in Sugar Rush, that last desire was bound to be lost.

And maybe if she just stayed in her Action Freplay, she could live forever, race forever, and find someone who could be her C. Sonic-kun, or her Elsie-san.

And maybe that was a horribly selfish, power-hungry idea and she needed to get her head out of the stars and back on the cocoa-dusted ground.

Choko curled in on herself, paralyzed because she wanted back in her game but she wanted to stay in her cheat console cartridge. She was Choko the racer and Choko the Codebuster, and how was she supposed to make peace between them?

She looked down at her Action Replay and asked for solutions to all the problems in her life.

She smiled as it gave her one.

Choko was a racer and a Codebuster, Sugar Rushian and Action Replay oriented, and she cheated death twice in the past five days. She had her nakama and she had her abilities and she had her endless 元気 (genki) to get her through whatever problems were in her way, to achieve whatever she wanted.

Oh, such a change from the shy, pedantic secretary of last year! Choko giggled at herself as she began to glow bright gold. She had been so afraid then, frantic over which honorific to use and nervous that she wasn't up to the job. But she was, she had grown, and all of Sugar Rush's code sang along with her as she cheated her way into a win-win situation.

She was a racer, so her code was in Sugar Rush. She was a Codebuster, so her code was in her Action Replay. Choko could do both and die wherever she wanted because if she wanted to be immortal with her niisan and neesan and all her bright eyed juniors so they could save the day for the rest of forever, then there wasn't a force in this gaming world that could stop her.

Choko emerged from her game with a big fat grin,and Honey-neesan and Skrillex-niisan had identical grins because they too figured it out.

When Vanellope-heika asked what was so darn cheerful, Choko merely hugged her dear friend close and chirped about the lemon drop sun and how good it felt to be home.

* * *

**Vanellope's POV**

* * *

Vanellope watched people she had mourned laugh and tumble about in her kingdom, and didn't know if she should keep crying.

It seemed silly to cry, now that Choko and the Red Core weren't dead. They weren't dead, they were just really lazy and slow and horrible people and yes, Vanellope loved the glow in the dark hoodie Choko had gotten her from DisneyQuest, but she was still grounded! Vanellope, Suri and Dr. Eggman had firmly grounded their errant roster mates for the foreseeable eternity; it was well done, and their not-dead friends had the grace to not argue.

And she guessed it wasn't their fault, not with the story they had told. Vanellope sat and listened to Choko's voice spin a tale beyond Vanellope's wildest daydreams, of cheating death and mega arcades and defeating a viral invasion and racing through the Internet. There was a permanent blue sparkle in her friend's eyes, like the edge of tomorrow, and Vanellope was just so relieved that she was here for Vanellope to see it.

Everyone was celebrating now, Vanellope sitting on Ralph's shoulders so she could see the mass of people stretch all around Mount Pockyama to the blue raspberry sea. The entire arcade was partying in Vanellope's game, the Codebusters doing a trick to keep the influx of electricity from tripping out the surge protector, and Vanellope was so proud of them for even knowing how to do that.

Her little Codebuster idea had grown into a world-wide organization, the people in it powerful enough to stop a programming error in its tracks and save millions of characters, and Vanellope broke down into tears again.

Ralph brought her down and hugged her, concerned that she was falling to pieces again, but she laughed and smacked his shoulder. "I'm happy, you dolt," she grinned and wiped her tears away, "Now let's go party!"

And so they did, dragging Choko and Honey and Skrillex and the Blue Core and everyone that could fit on Ralph's shoulders into the heart of the chaos. These people were her friends, her loved ones, and the last bit of grief in her heart was obliterated.

As it should've been; the Codebusters were here to stay, and she could count on them to save her day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> どうした？ (Doushita?): What's the matter?
> 
> なぜ？ (Naze?): Why?
> 
> こんばんは！(Konbanwa?)
> 
> 元気 (Genki): in this context, energetic moxie
> 
> And that's basically the resolution of Action Replay—they came home much different than they had been at the beginning of the story, figured out how to cheat death into the Minus World, and have spread the Codebusters all around the world.
> 
> … *sobs my babies are all grown up!
> 
> It was a good run for them, wasn't it? And even as the next entry will be the epilogue that ends Action Replay and shifts the focus of this story universe to another character, rest assured that the Codebusters are here to stay. Expect more shenanigans, especially with the epilogue's foretelling of Through The Mirror Darkly.
> 
> So yeah...see you then :3


	26. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the arcade is updated a wee bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the epilogue of Action Replay, my big baby that took over a year to finish and I'm both happy that it's reached a good resolution and sad that it's over XD
> 
> I'm writing this on the plane ride to Montana where I'll be working for the summer, so this will also be my last update until September or so.
> 
> We began with a pretty big change in Litwak's Arcade; let's end with another one.
> 
> Disclaimer: I only own my OCs, and you can argue about the Sugar Rush ones

**Mr. Litwak's POV**

* * *

Like most things that happened in Stan Litwak's arcade, this change was a big one.

Every new game was a grand event, every lost one was a funeral. His arcade had taken a big hit in the 80s when TurboTime and Roadblasters went down at the same time, and business had never been better with the addition of the computer and home console rooms.

And now that the characters in a few games seemed to be back in their right places again—he swore that for a week or so, that Honey girl his nephew had added to Sonic the Fighters had been missing—the summer had passed in a glorious haze of fun and profit. Even the gang of boys who hogged Sugar Rush (they were called "bro-wnies" or something odd like that) didn't cause much trouble.

In fact, the only trouble in his arcade at the moment was a good one: his old Sugar Rush was getting replaced with a sequel.

His nephew Toby called him a week before—from that nice girl Katarzyna's cell, no less—to warn him that Tobikomi of America was heading out to his neck of the woods to install their next game, limited addition just for arcade play. Stan didn't know if this was Toby's friends' influence or his old game really was just that valuable, but he had no issue. A new game was a game to be celebrated, after all.

It was a shame it was coming in fall as opposed to summer, but his patrons were faithful, and the lure of Sugar Rush:World Tour ought to be enough to carry on through the holiday season. Stan dressed in his cleanest referee shirt, welcomed his wayward nephew and his entourage, and opened the arcade early for a bunch of enthusiastic suits and a gleaming new console to roll in.

The console was mostly white as opposed to the original Sugar Rush's pink, with a lot more controls and shinier wall art, and Stan swore it smelled minty. A photographer took pictures of Stan's arcade, the old racing game and its replacement, and a bunch of pictures with people shaking hands and Misha posing like Vanellope with the rest of her friends.

Toby explained all the fancy new gimmicks of Sugar Rush WC, how it was similar to that Disney Infinity game where clusters of characters and circuits were purchased separately from the base game. "This version comes will all of the finished circuit packs," Toby pushed up his glasses and grinned, "And if they ever make more, I'll send you some so you won't have to brave the horror of Walmart or GameStop."

Stan snorted and ruffled Toby's hair, "I'm not that old, sonny, I remember my way around a game store." Toby fed Stan some more info about the game, about how apparently it was all that and a side of crackers, but his gaze kept drifting over to Katarzyna who was puttering around Hero's Duty. Stan grinned, "Got her number yet?"

Toby blushed and Stan shoved him over so he could impress his lady friend. Toby was also here to upgrade some of the consoles,and Stan gave him space to work.

Firs that DJ Hero 2 game. Toby's friend Deidre was into that sort of EDM kind of music—Stan had to admit, there was some similarities between EDM and disco that he appreciated—and she had complied a bunch of songs and extra characters and whatever to add. Stan hovered, impressed with the boy he helped raise in the arcade. "Hey, aren't those three those...what's their name, the Q Quadrant?"

"The M Machine," Toby snickered, "Dee-Dee wouldn't let me not add them in, along with everyone else from OWSLA and some female characters she made up to balance out the roster."

"You're adding in  _Watership Down_?"

"Don't worry about it old man," Toby finished up and Stan swore he spotted that long haired DJ avatar character tackle-hug some of the newer additions; his nephew must've programmed in special animations, he was proud of Toby.

Next were a slew of graphical tune-ups. Making sure not to bump into the Tobikomi suits—they were transferring data from the old Sugar Rush into the new one so the "special characteristics" weren't lost, or whatever that meant. Frogger got one, so did Punch-Out and Galaga, and Sonic the Fighters, which made Toby scratch his head. "Honey the Cat? Did I add her in?"

"Yep, and she's a fan favorite." The polygons of the old 90s game were smoothed out and made HD, and Stan nodded as Toby made Knuckles punch Honey in the face, "You fixed how she would turn into Amy, so that's good."

"Yeah..." Toby shook his head, "I've forgotten all the work I put into these old consoles, I don't remember un-dummying Honey."

Stan nodded sagely, "Memory's the first thing to go in old age; your mother is half-Italian though, so you ought to keep your hair."

Toby smirked, "There's nothing wrong with toupees, Uncle Stan."

Stan rubbed his bald spot, "Nope, I like it; it reflects the overhead lights, so whenever kids are being rowdy I just flash my headlight at them."

Toby laughed and Adia came up to squeal, "It's time!"

Everyone grouped around the suits as they gently unplugged Sugar Rush. Stan's electrician had come the night before to rewire everything; his surge protector was still being used for the old 80s-90s games, but the arcade room's wires were now all upgraded with three more surge protectors. He didn't want his brand new top of the line limited edition collector's item Sugar Rush Speedway: World Circuit to short out and cause a fire, after all.

With a soft click the old console was removed, set to be taken to the Tobikomi Museum in Akihabara along with the other 20 or so "special" consoles that were getting upgraded. The new console was plugged in, and a suit turned it on.

The opening cutscene played, fully orchestrated music lilting from the stereo speakers, and Stan shook his head, "You got me; the new game looks great."

More handshaking, more pictures, and Stan got to sit down in the brand new seats that weren't sticky or softened by brownie butts. His eyes widened at the insane amount of characters and race tracks presented,all the bells and whistles firing off like a finely tuned engine, and he grinned as he started up a game, "The kids are gonna love this."

* * *

Within the console, Choko opened up chocolate eyes to see the rest of her circuit mates look towards the horizon...and grinned as she flew into the minty fresh air, the sky singing a brand new theme song to match the blue light in her soul.

* * *

And deeper within the game, Vanellope opened her own hazel eyes, and marveled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, the last chapter was the real conclusion to Action Replay, but it was nice to get in some Litwak time.
> 
> Changes to the arcade that you should know before Through The Mirror Darkly:
> 
> Sugar Rush has been replaced with Sugar Rush: World Circuit. The previous racers are all in the new and improved version, don't worry, along with a BUNCH of new racers. This is the most important change.
> 
> DJ Hero 2 has new songs and new characters, such as producers from Skrillex's label OWSLA (which is why he hugged them), other artists that Deidre/I like, and OC female characters since I don't want DK Hero 2 to be a good old boy's club.
> 
> Sonic the Fighters now looks like the HD version released on the Xbox 360, and all of Honey's graphical glitches have been ironed out.
> 
> There now multiple surge protectors wired into the arcade room because the one we saw in the movie is a hazard to life.
> 
> Other games are prettier, but nothing as drastic as the changes to the above three.
> 
> And with that...Action Replay is complete. It was a wild ride, everyone, and to everyone still reading: thank you for following me through a year and a half's worth of messes. Every review, favorite and follow means a lot to me, and I beg your indulgence to keep reviewing, favoriting and following all the way up to the sequel.
> 
> Through The Mirror Darkly is Vanellope-centric, much like Life in 16 Flavors was. The Codebusters' time in the spotlight is over, but don't worry—Choko, Skrillex and Honey will still be around, and with the things I have planned for TTMD in mind...you're going to be very busy and delighted :)


End file.
